


Whispers of Promises

by Archwraith



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Major Character Undeath, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 72,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25019380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Archwraith/pseuds/Archwraith
Summary: The rumors of the Forsaken reaching out to the Horde left much question to Jaina Proudmoore herself. In an attempt to turn the favor to the Alliance, Jaina herself reached out to the undead. However she didn't realize just how much demanding the Forsaken leader can be, especially with her advisors.
Relationships: Jaina Proudmoore/Sylvanas Windrunner, Liadrin/Alleria Windrunner
Comments: 132
Kudos: 366





	1. Faithful Propositions

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this prompt just suddenly struck to my head out of nowhere.
> 
> Hope you guys like it!
> 
> Many thanks to ScouterFight for betaing the chapter!

Once Lordaeron had been a glorious kingdom, which managed to come out the strongest of all the kingdoms of men in the aftermath of the Second War. Now the former Capital City laid in nothing but in ruin of its former glory. There is naught but signs of destruction beyond the City’s its gate, as Jaina passed through them with her guards from Theramore. Several pairs of yellow eyes were watching the small group with both curiosity and hatred as they walked past them.

She and her entourage had landed not too far from the gates and had immediately made their way to the fallen City. The lady of Theramore had worked hard to make a meeting with the undead possible after the news had reached her that said undead had managed to gain independence from their former master. They who had been nothing but slaves to Arthas’ bindings for years, ever since he had laid siege first to his own kingdom, and then later to the kingdom of Quel’Thalas.

Thousands of corpses had been defiled carelessly when the former prince of Lordaeron had marched through the gate of his own city and Silvermoon. Kael’thas, the fallen prince of the Quel’dorei, had once blamed her for this. She still remembered vividly how he had assumed that she had been an accomplice to Arthas' plans just because he had at some point been her betrothed.

Matthias Shaw had briefed the Alliance’s leaders that the free undead, who had named themselves the Forsaken, have reached out to the Horde recently, asking to join them. Jaina however, felt that an action must be taken, they couldn’t allow the former humans of Lordaeron and the fallen people of their former elven allies to join the Horde, she proposed that they instead invite them into the Alliance.

The other leaders didn’t give much thought about this, other than letting her try.

After she had gained reluctant permission from Varian to visit Lordaeron, she had quickly sent a message ahead, asking for a meeting between her and the leader of the Forsaken. Surprisingly, she had received a reply only two days later confirming that the leader was willing to meet with her.

She gripped her staff tighter as an unarmed undead approached her. He looked like no threat at all, partially because he carried nothing in his hands, and because he was wearing a simple servant garb. One that she was quite familiar with from the days of the past when she visited Lordaeron often to meet up with Arthas.

“Ah, Lady Proudmoore! What a surprise today is,” the undead spoke quietly as he bowed before her. Her guards looked anxious for a moment before she held out her hand, telling them to stand down.

“Have we…” she hesitated for a moment, “met before?” Jaina asked as she tilted her head.

“Ah well, you probably don’t know who I am since I am but a humble servant serving under King Terenas. I’ve seen you a lot in the past when you were around the fallen prince. My name is Edmund. I shall be your guide for today.”

Jaina tried to remember who he was but Jaina failed to remember anyone like him. He wore a veil before his mouth, presumably to hide whatever was beneath it.

“Come, come!” He gestured for her to follow him. “The Dark Lady has been waiting for you. It would be unwise to keep her waiting any longer.”

The Dark Lady. The ominous leader of the Forsaken who lead the free-willed undead to march against the fallen prince and nearly succeeding in assassinating him before he escaped to the Northrend. She eventually marched alongside the others to usurp the Burning Legion agents, the Dreadlords and managed to defeat them all with one of them becoming her subjects.

At least, that was how the word was told to her.

As they made their way to the Royal Quarter, as the servant told her, Jaina wondered about their decision to ally with the Horde. The servant however decided to stay quiet. Maybe it wasn't his place to talk about such things.

He shook his head as they walked through the sparsely lit hallways of the Undercity. “All I can say is, my Lady that the Queen’s advisors were adamantly against the idea but they eventually relented.”

“The Queen’s advisors? Is the Dreadlord amongst them?”

Edmund looked at her for a moment and then barked a laugh that startled Jaina. His laugh was distorted yet his amusement was clear as day.

“The Dreadlord? Surely you jest. All of them had fallen at the end of our battle against them.”

This time it was Jaina’s turn to raise an eyebrow. The information was false then? If not the Dreadlord, who else?

“Then who are they?”

The servant chuckled but shook his head all the same, “You shall see them soon enough, my Lady.”

As Jaina approached the Royal Quarters, she noticed the two undead elven rangers, both were clad in dark leathers, they stood there motionlessly as they guarded the entrance that most likely led right to their leader. Their burning gaze watched Jaina’s every step alongside her guards’ oh so little movements. They stood there silently and just watched them approach slowly.

Edmund paused walking and turned Jaina to speak. “Ah-” he paused speaking to glance hesitantly between Jaina’s group and the two rangers- “my Lady, no one else is allowed to enter the Royal Quarters. Rest assured though, your guards won’t be harmed when you leave them behind.” He glanced at her guards for a moment, and his voice darkened just a touch. “ _Unless_ they harm us first, of course.”

Her guards bristled as they looked to each other, they clearly didn’t like the thought of leaving her alone, so deep in unknown territory. However, this was not her home and they had to play by their host’s’ rules if they wanted this to succeed. Jaina nodded to them and telling them to wait here as she entered the Royal Quarter, led by one of the rangers who previously stood by.

As soon as she, and the ranger, entered the Royal Quarters, Jaina immediately noticed that the temperatures within the room felt far colder than should be usual. The coldness in the air was of magical origin, but it was very different than the magic Jaina usually cast. This felt unnatural, and it sent shivers down her spine.

The ranger who had led her into the room spoke Thalassian as she knelt a few steps away from the throne. Jaina glanced up at it and saw an undead elf, wearing a purple-colored breastplate, and pauldrons adorned with skulls and long feathers. Her hair, a pale blonde, found its way slightly from her hood. A bow and a quiver leaned against her throne as she lounged on it and replied back in sharp Thalassian.

Jaina’s eyes were drawn to the tear marks that scarred beneath the woman’s eyes, they looked as if they had been burned into the elf’s skin. Said skin’s bluish tone didn’t seem to dampen her beauty at all. The woman at top of the throne had by now finished her conversation with the ranger and had moved her eyes towards the Archmage. Her fiery gaze captivated Jaina’s thoughts for a moment as their eyes connected. The Lady of Theramore felt as if the other woman was looking straight into her very soul. And yet despite that look, the way the other woman lounged on her throne; with her chin rested on her fist, looked far too nonchalant, it looked as if she didn’t give a single damn as to who her guest was.

“Lady Jaina of Theramore.” There was something so deeply alluring about how the name fell from the elf's lips. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Despite having never seen her before, the face of Sylvanas Windrunner, the former Ranger-General of Quel’Thalas was an unmistakable one. Jaina had never met her not even when she had visited Quel’Thalas back in the days before the Third War occurred. But Kael’thas had once noted her to be a headstrong, vain, and pragmatic warrior.

The question was now, how much has death changed her?

Jaina shook herself, removing her thought from further reminiscences, this was not the time to focus on the past. She took a step forward and bowed her head slightly in a show of respect. “I ask of an audience to discuss the possibility of an alliance with your people with those of the Alliance, Dark Lady.”

To that, the Banshee Queen sat up properly and leaned forward as she raised one long eyebrow, amused at the offer.

“Oh? Well, what could you possibly wish to offer us, that the Horde hasn’t offered us yet?”

The mention of the Horde surprised Jaina. She had thought that she covered her traces and intent well enough.

And the shock must have been apparent on her face because the Queen remarked. “Surely you don’t think I’m that naïve. I know you are here today because we recently send our messengers to the Horde. But did you know that my messengers returned with nothing but ash and bones of their former self when we tried to reach out to your precious Alliance?”

Jaina frowned at the revelation. Varian hadn’t told her about any of this. This would certainly explain why he had been so reluctant about the idea. Varian hadn’t really agreed nor disagreed with her, only telling her that she would have to be careful when she committed to the idea. She and Varian were going to be having words after this.

She shook her head. “I’m afraid I have no idea about what you are referring to, Dark Lady. I was in Theramore and no one has told me about your messengers being rejected or killed by the Alliance. Theramore also never received any of your messengers either.”

The Banshee Queen scoffed, “Hmph, such is the way of the Alliance, I see that nothing has really changed. A pity that even _you_ were lied to by them.” She leaned back again to her throne, now looking wholly uninterested in the entire meeting. Jaina despite herself felt as if she had failed some kind of test, “Or I wonder, were you simply not informed by them in the first place? What was the human saying again? ‘Ignorance is bliss’, wasn’t it?”

Her words were full of barbs, yet she spoke the truth.

The Banshee Queen continued. “I haven’t sent anyone to Theramore because I thought it will be just a waste to send my people to die again. That is reasonable, yes?” She asked sarcastically. But didn’t really wait for an answer before she continued. “Considering our past encounters with your kind.” She explained with a bored expression and a wave of her left hand.

Just as Jaina was about to reply, the Queen huffed out a breath, “It matters not anymore. What is important, is that you are here now.”

Jaina narrowed her eyes as she tried to discern the other’s mood which seemed to be flipping about almost without reason. She wasn’t able to tell if the Banshee Queen was is angry, or just amused, the snark in her voice just hid too much of her true thoughts for Jaina to make sense of them.

Jaina calmed herself, she had to keep her wits, the woman was shrewd, and the Archmage knew that she couldn’t allow herself to get distracted. “What did the Horde offer to you then, that we can try to match?” She asked to get the discussion back on topic.

The Banshee Queen hummed sweetly as she raised a single finger.

“How about, an army for a start?”

Jaina felt her eyes widen against her will before she forced the mask back into place. By the glint in the elf’s eyes, she knew that she hadn’t been fast enough to hide her shock. “An army?”

Sylvanas chuckled, “You’ve seen this place.” She gestured with her hands around the large room. “This city. We are not yet safe from the Scourge. To make matters worse, there are fanatical zealots looking to tear our city apart and put us to the stake when we just recently claimed our freedom, simply because we are undead. Yes, we need an army just to keep us safe.”

The need for an army was immediate, yes, but she doubted that Varian would be willing to do so easily, if at all. Nonetheless, she needed to try first before dismissing the request immediately.

So Jaina just nodded. “I will try to talk with the Alliance leader regarding-”

“And there’s something else as well...”

Her playful demeanor immediately changed. She suddenly stood up from her throne. Her back ramrod straight and her shoulders obviously tense even behind that armor and those pauldrons. Her crimson eyes glowed as the light inside the Royal Quarter began to flicker, and the room grew even colder than before. Jaina almost gasped as she tasted the magic in the air.

“I want to know why the Alliance abandoned us when we needed them.”

Sylvanas' voice had lost its drawl and dry amusement and was filled with a coldness that rivaled Northrend and an echo that Jaina knew could cause her to go deaf, if not worse. But it wasn’t how Sylvanas spoke that caused Jaina to flinch sharply it was the words. She had heard about the reluctance of the rest of the Alliance during the Third War, she had felt it herself before she had set out with the survivors for Kalimdor. And she knew that Sylvanas’s anger was more than justified.

She opened her mouth to speak but the low growl Sylvanas let out stopped the Archmage in her tracks. She felt as if her mouth had been sealed shut, as the Banshee Queen began to speak again, not to be interrupted by anyone or anything.

“The high and mighty Alliance that we once served left us nothing but to rot and decay. Why were the people of the Alliance so willing to throw their old ally away?” The Banshee Queen approached Jaina slowly, as she took one step closer to the Archmage with every word she spoke. Jaina could feel the anger grow with every word the Queen of the Forsaken uttered.

“Silvermoon fell because no one was willing to aid us. There were weeks between the fall of Lordaeron and the fall of Silvermoon, but behind our walls we heard nothing from our human allies, nothing about the danger that was approaching our lands. And Lordaeron fell because no one even tried to fight the damned prince, you all covered and hid! Where was the Alliance during all of those events? Why were we abandoned by them?”

The Banshee Queen stopped just short of her. She was slightly taller than Jaina and so because of this their noses didn’t touch, even though it was a near thing, as the Queen towered slightly over her. Sylvanas’s scowl looked even clearer as her face was just an inch away from Jaina’s. Her eyes glowed dangerously and Jaina knew one wrong move and she would have to resort to using magic to defend herself.

“ _Where. Were. They?_ ” The Queen gritted her teeth fiercely as she spoke those words. Even though everything within Jaina screamed at her to flee, to get away from this dark monster, she tried to gather herself and to muster up a reply. But she found that she had nothing to say, nothing to defend either herself or her allies.

All of a sudden, a pair of black mists suddenly entered the room. Jaina’s grip on her staff tightened even further as the mists whirled around the room as if it was observing looking at her. The Dark Lady’s ears twitched for a brief moment before she sighed and as she walked back to her throne once more. She looked indifferent in the face of these strange black clouds of mists that had so brazenly entered her throne room.

Both of them landed on each of Sylvanas’ sides, manifesting and looking very similar to the Banshee Queen herself, down to their armor which mirrored the Dark Lady’s. One of them wore a dark-colored armor, it matched the color of a darkened withered leaf and the other wore a dark blue colored armor, which matched the color of the sea during the dead of night. Both of them had eyes as crimson as Sylvanas herself.

The former turned to Sylvanas and began to speak immediately. “Don’t trust her, Sylvanas. The living wants nothing to do with us. All they want is just another territory to solidify their footing here.” Her voice was filled with much greater anger than even Sylvanas herself. There was a trace of a tattoo that crossed her left eye, it seemed to have been darkened and burned into her skin, just like Sylvanas’s tear tracks beneath her eyes. If anything, the dark mark resembled more of a scar now than a tattoo. The glare she gave to Jaina unnerved her immediately.

“The Alliance cannot be trusted, sister. Once they achieved what they want, they will just abandon us again.” The latter spoke with cautiousness and was clearly, distrustful of Jaina and the Alliance if the way her eyes shown was any indication. They showed much sorrow and great sadness. A scar was ranging from her right eye all the way to her left. Somehow, however, her eyes seemed intact.

_Or were her eyes replaced?_

With the similarity of how they looked and their same gaze which burned like ember, it was almost too easy to deduce who they both were. Alleria Windrunner and Vereesa Windrunner.

The former was the eldest sister, who was a veteran and a hero during the Second War. A hero through and through.

Jaina remembered a rumor that the oldest of the three sisters had nearly joined the expedition into the Dark Portal after the end of the Second War, but had ultimately chosen to remain instead. Alleria had decided to prioritize her own family first over her vengeance against the orcs. Rumor has it that she fell at the First Elfgate.

The latter was the youngest one, responsible for freeing the Dragon Queen herself and turning the effort of the war towards the Alliance’s favor almost immediately. She was to be wed to Rhonin, her dearest friend, but she fell at the Second Elfgate. Jaina remembered the day she and Rhonin had learned of his wife’s to be fate, he had been truly devastated at the news.

“I can handle _this_ , sisters.” Sylvanas’ tone grew bored once again at the interruption though her expression changed a moment later as if she had just gotten an idea as she raised one of her brows her brow and grinned sharply.

“However, I found myself in need of your council once more. Should we give the Alliance another chance, sisters?” Sylvanas asked as she lounged on her throne again, smirking. Now much more relaxed than just a few minutes ago.

Alleria met Jaina’s eyes. To say she wasn’t afraid would be a lie. She felt small before the former hero of the Alliance herself. Jaina knew she was a woman of a feat but her achievements seemed smaller than Alleria herself.

Her eyes spoke of much hatred and anger towards Jaina as both of them were locked in a staring battle for quite a while. Alleria however was the first to relent, or rather, she scoffed.

“I want to add something else, Sylvanas.” Her anger was still clear, but it was more tempered.

The Banshee Queen only nodded, letting her older sister speak.

“If we are to actually conduct this meeting, we want to meet on neutral ground. If not, even that can be done, then this is over and done with, before it has even begun.”

The younger sister looked at Sylvanas as well, presumably wanting to speak as well. Sylvanas gave another quick nod.

“And we want a guarantee that the Alliance will not turn their back on us, again.” Vereesa stepped off the throne and stepped to Jaina slowly. Unknowingly mirroring her older sister, even though Vereesa was far less intimidating then when Sylvanas had stalked towards her.

“Whoever their guarantee is, they must be an important person within the Alliance. Someone who holds such an influence that the Alliance cannot neglect.” Her steps were so quiet, that Jaina wouldn’t have been able to hear her coming if she hadn’t been able to see her.

“And if they dare to back out on us again, this person will _die_ as the consequences,” Vereesa spoke with enough venom to kill a kraken almost instantly, as she turned herself back to a mist, appearing back next to Sylvanas in an instant.

Jaina gritted her teeth and raised her head, “You want a prisoner? Is that what you are saying?”

Alleria scoffed once more, “So quick to judge, so quick to decide. How did your kind hasn’t died out in this world, yet is beyond me.”

Sylvanas held out her hand, her face remained impassive whereas Vereesa rolled her eyes.

“Now, now, Lady Sun, let’s not be the same as them. Let Vereesa continue,” Sylvanas drawled.

Vereesa peered at Jaina for a long moment before huffing and continuing her proposition, “The person would be free to walk to wherever they want, as long as they remain within the borders of the Forsaken territory. They shall be treated as our guest. They won’t be chained in a cell in some dungeon. We shall give them as much freedom as possible. Break this agreement, however, and we’ll not hesitate to kill them.”

Sylvanas remained on her throne, amused as she heard her sisters uttering proposals and threats at the same time. It only just clicked in Jaina’s mind that the two advisors the servant had spoken about were the Queen’s sisters.

Sylvanas drew Jaina’s attention back to her. “There we have it, Lady of Theramore. I shall ask again then, can these requirements be met?” Her voice returned to what it was before, sweet and charming, yet hiding something beneath it.

Jaina forced herself to swallow a gulp before she made up her mind. She would practically give them a hostage, regardless of how the youngest sister wanted to paint it, just for the Forsaken to keep by in case the Alliance ever tried to back out from their deal. But who? Who would even want to give themselves to the Forsaken as a guarantee? Jaina thought it best to phrase her reply as neutral as she could for now.

“I cannot give you the answer right away since such matters will be needed to be discussed even further with the rest of the Alliance. I promise to you, however, that I shall return with answers.”

Sylvanas' confident smile turned to a grin again, as if she already knew the results of that discussion. Alleria remained scowling while Vereesa's cautiousness lingered.

“Well then, a week from now. The place shall be in Silverpine Forest. That territory still remains as neutral enough, as the Forsaken have has yet to join the Horde officially. I suppose that this will be acceptable?”

The offer was sound. It was true that the Forsaken still remained a neutral force. For now, at the very least. Jaina reluctantly nodded.

“Well then, without further ado, please, excuse yourself from my city. I have much to discuss with my sisters,” Sylvanas said as she shooed Jaina away.

Though Jaina felt unsatisfied with all of this and wanted to speak more, especially regarding the topics of the rumored Forsaken’s deed of torturing nearby living human or what the Alliance would gain from this agreement, the finality of the Banshee Queen’s word was is clear. So, she only nodded and left, before she sparked another conflict, which was the absolute worst thing that could happen now.

The servant and her guards were waiting for her back at the entrance of the Royal Quarter. He chuckled when he saw Jaina’s face when she neared.

“I hope your visit is fruitful, my Lady.” He spoke as he gave a small bow.

She let out an exasperated sigh as they reached the surface, “So the Queen’s advisors are her sisters?”

Though Jaina couldn’t see what was beneath the veil, she knew well enough that he was probably grinning. “Both Lady Alleria and Lady Vereesa are as much our Queens, as Lady Sylvanas is, despite their titles.”

Jaina raised a brow at the statement and the servant continued.

“All three of them were instrumental when we fought for our freedom. Lady Sylvanas is the representation of our iron will. No longer are we slaves to the Scourge, no longer we will do their bidding,” Edmund spoke enthusiastically.

“Lady Alleria is the representation of our strength, while Lady Vereesa is the representation of our mind and heart. Though only Lady Sylvanas was crowned as the Queen of the Forsaken, the Dark Lady herself insisted that her sisters are to be treated the same. We, obviously have no problem with it.”

So, it seemed their bond remained intact. However, Rhonin’s wife-to-be had definitely changed. He had said that his fiancé had been strong but filled with kindness. The one she had met today had uttered suggestions that were cruel and methodical. Death had changed them so much.

The question remained still.

If the Alliance was willing to give someone to live with them as their guarantee, who would that be? There’s no way Varian would be willing to send just about anyone to the Forsaken. And she doubted the Three Sisters would see any kind of value from any member of the Council of Three Hammers. The council would be able to quickly replace anyone they lost. The Kaldorei would never agree to this in the first place. So, the only option left was someone who would be willing to volunteer.

But who would be mad enough to actually do this?

Deep down, Jaina already knew the answer to this, but she refused to entertain the idea just yet.


	2. Vows of Aid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Negotiations occurs between both sides, tension rises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to ScouterFight for the beta. Couldn't have done it without the help!

While Sylvanas had been waiting for her meeting with the Alliance to come to pass, the messenger had returned from the Horde bearing good news. The Horde was willing to consider giving the Forsaken a place among them. All Sylvanas needed to do now was to pledge her fealty upon them. An empty oath as Sylvanas had no real interest in whatever the Horde was doing in the first place. But if the Alliance was willing to agree to her offer, then they would certainly be the better choice. After all, there was no need to wait for the Horde to establish their presence on the northern parts of the Eastern Kingdoms here if the Alliance could do it faster.

That's what Sylvanas was thinking as she watched the Alliance representatives move through the Silverpine Forest from afar. Her scowl rarely ever moved away as of lately. How disgusted she was to be reminded that she had once fought and bled for these fools. The Alliance, who had abandoned them when everything had gone south. The rage that was bubbling in her slowly grew, before it just as quickly ebbed again, when a presence formed behind her, and a cold hand touched her on the shoulder, squeezing it lightly.

“We managed to find out a bit about that woman,” Vereesa murmured from behind her.

Sylvanas' anger ebbed away completely at the presence of her younger sister. Even now in death, she loved her unconditionally. Her sister, who's been through so much for her sake as they served the Scourge. As they served that... _man-child_. How much she had suffered through under that man, as well as those demons that used her so they could command herself and Alleria during their attempt to reclaim Undercity.

“And? What have you learned?” Her eyes concentrated on the woman who had appeared only a week ago in her quarters. One who wished to talk about the possibility of kindling an alliance between the living and the dead. How amusing, had Sylvanas first thought, when she had first read Proudmoore’s missive. Despite how her sisters had reacted that day, she knew that both of them were equally relieved that the Horde was not the only option for them.

Oh, she remembered vividly how they both had argued fiercely when Sylvanas had first proposed the idea of an allegiance with the “new” Horde. How angry they both had been at the thought that she was willing to ally themselves with the murderers of their mother and their little brother. Her mother who had passed away from an injury that had been inflicted during a skirmish, and her little brother who had been was killed in a raid that had directly targeted the village that had been named after their family. Sylvanas knew that Lirath had just left their Spire to quickly buy a few things. Both of her sisters had only relented with their arguments when Sylvanas had pointed out that their revenge against Arthas took priority, and that their animosity towards the Horde shouldn’t prevent them from getting their revenge on that monster.

"We have learned that she is the daughter of the Lord Admiral of Kul Tiras. As a child, she had been taken in as the apprentice of the late Archmage Antonidas himself. Anya told me that she had once seen her during her guard rotation at the Sunstrider's home. It seems as if Kael'thas had tried, and obviously failed, to court her back then. That was as much as our rangers and deathstalkers have been able to discover in such a short amount of time. But we could always learn more if this talk goes well."

Sylvanas hummed.

_Of course, that useless prince would try to get her._

She still remembered when the human mage had entered her Royal Quarter, the stench of arcane that had come from the woman had been strong. Sylvanas had recognized the mage’s power immediately. And the Banshee had known that if she had tried to fight her then, that she would have definitely have gotten herself into some trouble. She was unsure if she had been able to take the human on while alone. But as soon as her sisters had arrived, she had been confident that a confrontation between the four of them would have definitely ended in their favor.

“I also remembered that… that he…” Vereesa stammered as she tried to speak. Sylvanas immediately knew what was wrong and moved quickly to embrace her younger sister.

"It's alright. Don't force yourself," Sylvanas murmured softly as she slowly rubbed her sister's back.

Vereesa shook her head slightly as she tried to push through her struggles.

"It's… alright. I have to overcome it." Vereesa shot her a sad smile. Sylvanas took a step back, to let her sister compose herself.

It was always like this. Whenever Vereesa tried to talk about her fiancé, the mask she wore when she was around other people broke almost immediately. The sadness that her sister felt was beyond anything Sylvanas could even try to understand. And really, how could she? Vereesa had been about to marry the man who had loved her unconditionally, and Sylvanas knew that her little sister had loved him back just as fiercely. But that dream was nothing but ash now. After all, Vereesa was dead, and as far as they knew Rhonin was still amongst the living, there was no need to check if he still loved her. The notion that the living were willing to accept the dead was ridiculous enough. But to keep loving one another after death had claimed one of them? It was preposterous.

Vereesa sighed as she finally managed to force the words out, “He… spoke about her sometimes, a woman who was filled with compassion. Someone that was eager for peace, and was willing to work for it. He considered her his best friend. I hadn’t realize it was her until I remembered that she resembled to what he once described to me, before everything... fell apart.

So, she was connected to Vereesa’s fiancé. What a surprise.

“I’m sorry that my memories are still so jumbled, even after all this time.”

As she spoke those words, someone else joined them. The wrathful presence of the eldest sister was the most recognizable one, out of all of them.

“You have nothing to apologize for, Vereesa,” Alleria spoke curtly.

Alleria definitely had changed the most out of all of them, death has twisted her, turned her into something volatile. The oldest sister was quick to anger and slow to calm, even more so than she had been in life. They all had changed, Arthas had seen to that. His sick torture and twisted experiments had robbed Alleria of any hope. Her death and its aftermath played a huge part in shaping Alleria into who she was today. A black spot in her history, one she may never cleanse herself of, much to the eldest sister's dismay.

“Have you really thought this through, Sylvanas? Are you sure about aligning ourselves with the Alliance once more? After everything they have done?” Alleria questioned as she stared at Sylvanas.

“What choice do we have, sister?” Sylvanas said, even as she released an exasperated sigh. “Whether we will or we won’t depend on their answer. Both sides don’t trust us either way. We have a much better bargain with the Alliance if they are willing to fulfill our demands.”

Vereesa quirked her brow, “I was told that the Horde is going to give us a chance?”

“The _Tauren_ are willing to give us a chance, but the Horde as a whole? No. They don’t trust us. And they definitely don’t want us,” Sylvanas spoke plainly, there was no need to beat around the bush.

"They are more reasonable than the rest then." Vereesa said as her eyes wandered over the Alliance, "As much as I loathe the Horde, the Tauren didn't have any hand in the crime of the old one."

Alleria scoffed, “That remains to be seen. We’ll see how they truly are when we fight against them one day.”

“We’ve discussed this, sister. We need to play this carefully, lest we get ourselves into an even greater mess,” Sylvanas murmured.

It was no secret that Alleria abhorred the idea of working with the Horde. She’d argued with her even after Vereesa had finally accepted the fact that they won’t survive long in this world if they continued to stand alone. Sylvanas wouldn’t be surprised that if they were to truly align themselves with the Horde, that Alleria would somehow be able to find a reason or even an excuse to shoot a few of the orcs if they taunted her.

While Sylvanas and Alleria debated a little more about how this meeting could end up, Vereesa’s eyes remained locked on the young mage, watching her from afar. Her eyes widened and glowed like cinder for a brief moment as she started to piece something together. Her thoughts were still muddled but a picture was beginning to take shape. And she didn’t like it one bit.

Both Alleria and Sylvanas noticed their little sister's state as she glared angrily at the mage, and dark energy began to bleed all over her skin. They rarely saw her that angry, distrustful and cold yes, but never truly so enraged, that her Banshee spirit began to escape from her mortal vessel. Most of the time this only happened to the older two.

“I… I remember again, who she was… and why I know of her…” Vereesa gritted her teeth as she spoke.

-o-

Jaina flinched all of a sudden.

She could sense that someone or something, was staring at her with much anger and hatred. It was even stronger than what she had felt during her short visit to Undercity. Whoever was staring, they had successfully managed to unnerve her, and that was definitely not something the young Archmage needed right now. Even as the angry presence continued to stare at her she could feel the dozens of other eyes watching her and the rest of the Alliance forces, alongside her bodyguard, moving towards the designated meeting point. 

Pained had noticed her sudden bristling and leaned down slightly.

“Are you alright, my lady?”

Jaina's eyes wandered around the forest. It had changed so much in recent years and was nothing like it had been when she had last seen it. Where there had once been lush and green, many of the trees had by now succumbed to the Scourge's horrible corruption, and the general feeling of the woods around her felt wrong. The Scourge had taken more than just people's lives. Nature itself appeared to be decaying. Nothing had been spared.

But the reason for her distress was not the environment, nor was it the eyes that watched them from beyond the trees. There was something else, something hidden, something that was angry and wrathful. The eyes that appeared in the darkness around them were mostly curious with some of them showing some signs of distrust or scorn, but not the hate she felt coming from somewhere else, somewhere high above them.

Jaina suspected that those eyes were probably somewhere in the cliffs that were hidden from her sight. The gaze she felt on her spoke of murder, and of a hatred that was so intense that the Archmage felt as if her heart had already been pierced by an arrow.

And yet Jaina just shook her head slightly, and lied, “No, it was nothing. Let us move on, I still have to open the portal to Stormwind, Varian is probably already starting to get impatient and we don’t want to keep our hosts waiting any longer.”

Though Jaina had dismissed her guard’s concern, she knew well enough by now that Pained didn’t believe her words, not in the slightest. She knew her bodyguard was stubborn, especially when it came to her well-being.

Before long, they arrived at the place the Sisters had chosen for their meeting. It was a small clearing where the Forsaken has set up a small camp. The guards stood staunchly before the entry.

“I’m here for the meeting with the Queen, representing the Alliance,” Jaina spoke plainly.

The guards glanced at each other before nodding. One of them moved to enter the base as the other one stood straight, still blocking their path.

“Stay.” Was all he said.

Jaina huffed at the short response. Pained beside her looked like she was about to argue but before anything could happen, a Dark Ranger appeared from the back of the camp. She spoke language Jaina had never heard of before to the guards before the guardsman nodded and made way for Jaina and the rest of her entourage to enter the small makeshift camp.

The servant had told her that these rangers had once served under the three queens when they had still been alive. Their services were now spread evenly between each of the sisters, but they served them all with unyielding loyalty.

“Lady Jaina. If you would follow me,” the Dark Ranger spoke softly.

As she dismounted from her horse, letting one of the soldiers take her horse away, she was ushered to a tent in the middle of the clearing. She told Pained to stay outside and watch over the camp. The Kaldorei only reluctantly complied. Inside stood but a simple round table with three seats at the opposite and another three at her side. No one beside herself had arrived yet.

Well, it was time to change that.

“If I may open a portal to Stormwind so that the High King can arrive, is that alright if I open it here?”

The Dark Ranger didn’t speak but she shrugged, and Jaina took her uninterested reaction as consent. Well, that was the first time someone didn’t care about the leader of the Alliance arriving. It spoke volumes of how much she thought about the High King of the Alliance.

Jaina was brought back for a moment to the confrontation between herself and said High King after she had returned from Undercity to Stormwind. She had confronted Varian immediately. She hadn’t been happy when he confessed that he had known about the killed messengers, even as he told her that he hadn’t ordered it. 

He had explained that the undead had caused so much unrest amongst the people of Stormwind in recent years, and to allow them to move too close to the city could have caused a mass panic. The action of the city guard had been impulsive. They hadn't considered the messenger’s origin either. They had all seen red the moment an undead had approached the gates of Stormwind.

As Varian stepped through the portal alongside Bolvar, who had insisted to come along for the High King’s safety, he looked around the tent, his gaze was impassive, but not aggressive, a good sign from the sometimes too hot-headed king. And while his hand stayed near his sword, he hadn’t drawn it yet. Bolvar meanwhile calmly kept his arms at his sides, yet he too remained cautious.

As if on cue, the sisters stepped through an entrance on the other side of the tent and towards the table. Each one pulled out a seat for themselves. The ranger bowed and quickly dispersed as the three Queens settled in. Jaina immediately noticed the hostile glares Alleria was sending towards her.

_What did I do this time?_

There was something dark in Vereesa's gaze as well. It was as if Jaina had committed an unforgivable crime since they had last seen each other.

Sylvanas however, looked impassive. She glanced at each of her sisters for a moment and whatever she did; she had successfully plucked away the sisters’ stare away from Jaina to the other. Sylvanas leaned back in her seat, as she gestured for the three humans to sit as well.

If Varian was surprised at the sight of the sisters, he hid it better than Bolvar.

“So, shall we begin?” Sylvanas spoke first; her alluring voice was something Jaina was used to by now. It hid so many things beyond those confident words. The three humans sat down, with Sylvanas and Varian sitting directly across each other.

"I've been told by my advisor here," he gestured towards Jaina, "that you would need an army to fight the Scourge, and that this is a requirement for your people to join the Alliance." Varian began.

“Yes. It is but a simple request that will benefit everyone in the end. The Forsaken, especially.”

Varian shook his head. “I will send out an army, but they will not be yours to command. I will see things done my way.”

That earned a scowl from Alleria, “How are we supposed to know that you won’t use them to attack us?”

“You can send anyone you like to oversee the army, and even point them to where they should strike next. But your orders will be given to my friend here,” Varian said as he glanced at Bolvar, “he will decide if he wants to follow those decisions as he will be the one in charge of the army we send to assist you.”

Jaina noticed the sisters’ immediate dislike towards the Paladin. While they all scowled openly at him, Sylvanas managed to mask her annoyance slightly better than her sisters, her next reply however seemed to catch all of them off guard.

Sylvanas now directly addressed Bolvar, “Would you be willing then, Paladin, to fight against the monstrosities from Naxxramas?” Sylvanas questioned easily.

The two other sisters raised their eyebrows in interests, and Jaina noted that reaction in the back of her mind, apparently neither of them had known what Sylvanas had been planning to do with the army beforehand.

"Naxxramas?" Jaina chimed in, that name didn't ring a bell, but she had a bad feeling about it.

“It is a necropolis belonging to the Archlich, Kel’thuzad,” Jaina just barely managed to suppress a reaction to that name, she hadn’t heard that one in a while, “given to him for his service from the Lich King himself. You should know that at the moment, he is amassing his forces to strike Stormwind.”

At the mention of his city, Varian’s now hardened gaze fell upon Sylvanas.

“When did you learn of this?”

“A day before she arrived, actually,” Sylvanas spoke easily as her eyes moved to look at Jaina.

Varian gritted his teeth as he stood up from his seat, his anger was obvious in both his posture and his face.

“And you didn’t think to share this information with us?”

Sylvanas was clearly displeased with Varian's words as her scowl deepened further, alongside her sisters'.

“ _Sit_.”

All she muttered was one word, and it made clear that she was the one leading this discussion, and no one else. Varian was going to snarl again before Jaina grabbed his arm and shook her head. Mouthing to him to wait and listen.

He begrudgingly did so as he sat down again.

"The lives of your people hang on the scale, and the first thing you do is to snap at those who bring you the news? I'm curious about how long you will live before someone decides to stab you in the back, High King," Alleria sneered.

“How many times have your lack of patience cost you I wonder? And how much?” Vereesa jumped into it, obviously just as eager to hurt the High King as her sister was.

Jaina, alongside Bolvar and Varian, found that they had nothing to say in response. Somehow the Forsaken had managed to gain information that the SI:7 haven't even heard whispers of yet. This was not good.

“As you can see, High King, in a deal like this, a party needs to have an upper hand. Mine in this case is information about a threat towards your precious city. This is nothing more than simple politics,” Sylvanas drawled, looking uninterested in reproaching her sister’s words. It was clear that she agreed with them.

"The Archlich's forces won't march until at least thirty more days. We have scouted their forces and they intend to use the plagued grain like they once used to destroy Lordaeron," Sylvanas said plainly as she eyed her clawed gauntlet. Jaina was fascinated by the fact that the woman managed to completely dominate this entire exchange while sounding absolutely bored in the process.

_So, just like the Cult of the Damned had done back then._

Varian glared at the sisters for a moment before closing his eyes as he huffed.

“My apologies. I let my anger get the better of me.”

While Vereesa was impassive in the face of the apology, Alleria had the gall to scoff at it.

Bolvar spoke for the first time in the meeting while he assessed the information, “This necropolis. I would like to know everything about it so we will know just how many men I would need to amass before we strike.”

Sylvanas smirked, "I will divulge as much information as I can once we have come to an agreement. The Alliance still owes us two more things before we decide on whether we truly agree to ally ourselves once more with the Alliance.”

“Before we talk about this any further, we would like to know what the Forsaken can offer to the Alliance in return," Jaina stated plainly. She directed the question directly at Sylvanas because the other sisters were still projecting their apparent dislike at her.

“Our research, our apothecary, and how the Alliance can fight against the Scourge most effectively. We knew how they worked better than anyone else." Alleria spoke in her stead as if she had known that the question would be coming, and Jaina supposed that it was obvious.

Jaina looked to Varian, waiting for his answer. His eyes wandered from each sister, trying to discern if there was anything else that they were trying to hide. Before long, it seemed he couldn’t find anything and nodded, “Very well.”

"Well? We're waiting for your explanations." Alleria took over the discussion for this part of the talks. And Jaina knew better than to even utter a word when she spoke the oldest Windrunner still seemed particularly high strung and shot the Archmage glares every once in a while.

Varian set his gaze on her, unwilling to back down even against a former hero of the Alliance.

"We didn't mean to abandon the people of Lordaeron or Quel'Thalas. None of us did it intentionally. Each of us had a problem that we also had to deal with on our own. Stormwind has suffered much in recent years, as the Black Dragonflight managed to mislead my people and turned us against each other. The gnomes were nearly killed off by their own. I cannot speak of the dwarves as they were locked in their own problem which I know little about even now." Varian spoke plainly, his eyes watching the sisters' reaction carefully. Jaina had told him before, to only speak the truth. She hoped that he had chosen to listen to her advice and to swallow his pride for once.

"I will never claim that I could understand the suffering you were forced to endure under the Scourge. But we all had our own enemies to fight. I'm not making light of what you have been through or what you had been forced to deal with. I know how much your effort benefited the Alliance in the aftermath of the Second War, Lady Alleria. How you tried to keep the Alliance intact even after Gilneas had chosen to secede from us."

"Regarding your messengers, we didn't even know that they were part of the Forsaken. We didn't even know of the Forsaken existence at that point just yet. My people were terrified at the sight of the undead. In hindsight, I'll admit it was an impulsive action from my people, but the Third War has set such prejudice against the undead that I can't fault them for such a reaction. I've only decided what was best for my people, and the dead have been a threat against the living for so long. If you were in my position when you had been still alive, what would you have done?" Varian ended his explanations for his and the Alliance's actions, or lack thereof. He stated clearly back in Stormwind to Jaina that he would not apologize for the actions of his people, despite how badly that could be received by the Forsaken during the meeting.

Jaina could see that Alleria had been itching to get out of her seat during the entirety of Varian’s explanation, but now that he was finally done it seemed as if the looks Sylvanas and Vereesa were both shooting her were the only things that were keeping her in her seat. The oldest sister glared angrily around the tent. Her ears twitched as she glanced between her sisters, and her mouth was set in a harsh scowl while her red eyes were filled with anger.

The silence stretched on for a while and the more it lingered the worse the tension in the tent got. It unnerved Jaina, as she watched the silent conversation between the three sisters, the only things giving them away were their ears and their shifting expressions. She noticed those expressions, shifting from one moment to the other. With Alleria it was clear, she was angry and wasn't even trying to hide it. Vereesa appeared to be waiting for something to happen, she sat on the edge of her seat, while her hand twitched every once in a while, most likely in an attempt to settle her eldest sister, before she lowered it again. Sylvanas was the one that troubled Jaina most of all, even now her face was nearly unreadable.

Though Varian’s face remained neutral at what was happening in front of him, Jaina could see Bolvar mouthing at her behind the High King’s back, ‘What are they doing?’, Jaina could only shrug in response to the Highlord’s question.

After a full minute of silence had passed, Alleria finally calmed in her seat, she was still tense and everyone who met her eyes was faced with a fierce glare, but at least she wasn’t attempting to rise again. Vereesa was the complete opposite as she visibly relaxed in her seat, as she leaned back again, she slumped a bit in relief. Sylvanas interlocked her fingers as she leaned forward.

"If there's anything we respect after everything that has fallen upon us, it is honesty, King Wrynn. For that, I thank you, that you finally shed light on what happened during the Third War."

Though Jaina was about to sigh, at the words at least, Sylvanas’s tone gave her ploy away. She wasn’t done, far from it, and Jaina feared what would come next.

"This of course doesn't change the fact that no one even tried to help us. All of our calls for help fell on deaf ears because you were busy with your own problems. We find this more than unreliable. I wonder if such a thing could happen again in the future, and we would find ourselves on our own once more. Because what is the point to such an alliance if you can't help each other in your greatest time of need?"

Sylvanas continued without waiting for one of them to answer. "And it pains me to see that my people lost their lives in such an unfortunate way. I hope that you are willing to explain the circumstances of my messengers' deaths to their families one day. You owe them that much for the actions of your guard, don't you agree?"

Varian could only nod begrudgingly to the request.

“Moving onto our last part of the discussion. Have you chosen someone to send to us?” Vereesa asked flatly and without fanfare.

Varian immediately and openly showed his dislike in the face of the requirement he had refused to entertain from the start, “Must this be done? I’ve said everything that needs to be said. I trust that after my explanation, such a requirement really won’t be needed.”

Alleria seethed in her seat. She gritted her teeth as she spoke, her tone nearly a full out growl, “We have had enough of the Alliance not living up to their words, King Wrynn. It must be done.”

Varian glared at Alleria for the retort but the situation was immediately defused as Sylvanas interrupt whatever snarl Varian was preparing to spat at Alleria.

"Yes, this is absolutely necessary. Your explanation proved my point, and why this needs to be done. I can't allow my people to get into such a position again, we simply wouldn't survive it. Your explanation proved perfectly what I have been suspecting all along, your Alliance seems to work unreliably at best. We have to make sure that you will hold your end of the bargain and won't abandon us in our time of need. Think of it as a show of trust, from you to us."

Jaina intervened, “A show of trust? How about you start giving us a reason to trust you. So far you haven’t shown us anything that tells us to trust you.”

Vereesa’s glare had focused on her now, while Sylvanas looked as if she found the interruption highly amusing.

"Of course, we have yet to trust you. Our past encounters with humans have shown us that we have no reason to. You only wanted the City, but not its people. So far you have only shown us that you humans do not care if my people are burned alive by the Light or by fire. Or that they fell on the battlefield to protect the living. No, you humans only see us as meat bags, rather than as individuals who had once longed for a clear death, and now desire vengeance against the Scourge, and especially against _Arthas_."

Jaina just barely suppressed a flinch.

“That name does ring a bell, doesn’t it Proudmoore? The name of our _butcher_?” Vereesa added.

Jaina froze at Vereesa’s words. Her mind was stuck between anger and sadness as she stared at the youngest sister. 

_Unbelievable._

“Arthas is our enemy. Her past is of no concern anymore.” Varian nearly growled at the offense Vereesa sent Jaina’s way.

“As the High King said, he was no longer the man I once knew. After Stratholme, he had changed drastically.”

“And you didn’t even try to stop him?” Vereesa threw one last barb at her, and Jaina grew even more agitated. Both Sylvanas and Alleria watched on in open interest but did nothing to stop their little sister, as she continued taking jabs at Jaina’s past.

Jaina rose from her seat, angered at the accusation that she didn’t try back then. “I did!”

"I had no power to stop him back then! And really how could I have? He had been my prince back then, my best friend! He hadn't yet been the monster that returned from Northrend to kill his father and to destroy two whole Kingdoms. And even if I had met him again after Northrend I wouldn't have been able to stop him. There was nothing I could have done! And I still couldn't stop him today!" Each word grew louder than the last as Jaina grew even angrier at the look Vereesa was giving her. Her impassive and unimpressed face exasperated her even further.

“For now, all I can do is dedicate everything, and I mean everything that I have, to finally stopping and destroying his Scourge. The very least I can do now is to try to alleviate whatever pain he has inflicted upon the people of Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas. This is why I insisted on a place amongst the Alliance for the Forsaken in the first place!”

Jaina took a deep breath. “And I swear to you this, I will be the first one to step forward when the time comes for us to deal with him once and for all,” Jaina said with gritted her teeth.

At her answer, Vereesa seemed no longer interested in continuing her verbal attack, as she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms. Jaina, however, felt unnerved at the wicked smirk Sylvanas threw her way, she had a feeling that she had walked right into some kind of trap. Alleria's own grin just confirmed her bad feelings even further.

Sylvanas finally broke the amicable silence after a few more moments, "As I've said before, yes, we still didn't trust the Alliance fully. The pain of betrayal still sticks with us to this day, High King. We lost the kingdom we have protected for hundreds of years due to the actions of a traitor. We have fought tooth and nails to reclaim Lordaeron after our insurrection just before we were betrayed again by Garithos as the man never truly intended to let us live in the city either. We sincerely hope that you understand our position." Sylvanas quickly summed up before any more interruptions could occur.

The silence stretched on afterwards. Varian wouldn't budge on the matter that he was convinced that the living could not live amongst the dead. Jaina however had argued that the sisters had planned for this exact situation when they had proposed this in the first place. The other problem was the strict restrictions that would be forced upon whoever would be chosen, this eliminated nearly all important figures from the Alliance as they all had to take care of their own people.

It was only then as she thought about a possible candidate for the sister's demand, that she realized what she had just walked into. Sylvanas' and Alleria's reactions should have tipped her off earlier. Jaina closed her eyes for falling to such an obvious bait that the sister had placed for her. But she couldn't-, no she wouldn't take her words back. No, she refused to. Not because she didn't want to be any part in all of this, but because what she had said had been true, and refused to make a liar out of herself.

With great reluctance, Jaina laughed at herself.

_Well played ladies._

“I’ll do it.”

Both Bolvar and Varian looked horrified at her word. She saw Sylvanas flash a grin in triumph as if she had just caught an immeasurable treasure. Both of her sisters mirrored her.

“But as I rule Theramore, I will need to return from time to time to my city. This is not a responsibility I can just relegate to anyone else. The matters of my city come first to me in that regard. I want that leniency.” She shook her head, unwilling to budge on this matter.

That seemed to catch them by surprise. The three sisters looked to one another. Another silent conversation led only through ear movement and various facial expressions. Jaina made a mental note to learn about this in the future. It didn’t take long until they came to an agreement.

"That condition is acceptable, but you are going to be escorted by two of my finest rangers at all times."

The notion of being followed and be watched by those crimson eyes would not be comfortable, and Jaina was unsure if she would be able to sleep easily, or at all really, with those glowing eyes watching her at all times. Especially if it was more than one of them.

“One. Pick one. I already have my bodyguard watching over me in Theramore, I don’t need much more protection either way.” Jaina said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“You mistake us. They will be there to watch your movements, they are not for your protection, Archmage,” Alleria sneered.

Sylvanas rebuffed her offer, with a shake of her head, though she also paid no heed to any of Alleria's words, "Two when you are in the Forsaken territory, and one when you are in Theramore. You are forbidden from teleporting during your time there or to create a portal where you won't allow my rangers to follow unless an emergency dictates it. Another thing, there will be an added precaution measure with dire consequences should you dare to break this agreement."

“And what would that be?”

Sylvanas smirked as she held out her right hand, waiting for someone to place something on it. Out of nowhere, a ranger appeared behind her and placed a bracelet in her hand. Jaina was able to tell that this was not any normal bracelet. She could feel the enchantments on it. The ranger left as quickly as she had arrived.

“This. Should you do anything that breaks our agreement then your mana will be drained until nothing will be left of you.”

“Surely you know what happens to a mage that is drained of all their mana?” Sylvanas asked. And her smile was sickeningly sweet as she said it to her.

The fact that Sylvanas had this bracelet prepared beforehand could really only mean one thing. She had planned for this meeting to go as it had happened, she had somehow known that Jaina would offer herself as part of the deal to convince the Forsaken to join the Alliance.

_Well played indeed._

“Try to take it off without any of us present and the consequences will be the same,” Vereesa explained before Jaina could even open her mouth to ask.

Varian looked at her. His look pleaded with her to at least think it through before she committed to it. But the looks Sylvanas and her sisters were shooting her were almost daring her to refuse.

“For how long will I have to do this?”

Sylvanas leaned back to her seat once more as she placed the bracelet on the table, “Until all three of us believe the Alliance to be a trustworthy ally. How long will that be? I honestly don’t know. All of this depends on you Lady Proudmoore, alongside the Alliance of course.”

_Just what kind of enemies have you made, Arthas?_

She cursed the desire in her heart that yearned for peace across the lands. She could only hope that her sacrifice would benefit the world as a whole and that it wouldn't backfire catastrophically upon them all.

“I accept.”


	3. Undesired Presence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaina's first day living in Undercity, and she learned a little bit of how the Forsaken works.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of thanks to ScouterFight for another beta and helping me improve bit by bit.

It took Jaina a week before she was able to return to Undercity. There had been a lot of paperwork to go through, and with both Kinndy and Pained vehemently rejecting her decision to spend her time alternating between Undercity and Theramore, she had spent a lot of the last few days arguing with her apprentice and bodyguard. Sylvanas was at least kind enough to allow her to stay in Theramore for two days a week, though she still insisted that at least one of her rangers would keep an eye on her at all times, much to Pained’s obvious dismay. 

Sylvanas had made it sure that she was allowed to act on her own accord, and this bracelet will allow her to act against them, should they were the one who made the aggression first. 

Alleria had given her the option to either stay in a guest room, close to the sisters’ own quarters, or in the ruin on the surface. She had made it clear that she didn’t care about Jaina’s choice in the slightest. One of the surface buildings seemed intact enough to inhabit. And with a little bit of magic Jaina would be able to fix the building completely. For now however her mana was depleted as she had used too much of it in a short amount of time with the last bit being used to create a portal to arrive in Undercity. 

She was greeted by two Dark Rangers as soon as she entered Undercity, true to Sylvanas’ words. The walk towards the Royal Quarter where she would be staying was eerily silent. The two rangers didn’t seem too interested in talking with her at all. One of them opened a door, revealing a rather furnished room in the process. A large bed, fit for two adults, a desk, complete with writing tools and papers. A bathroom at the other side of the room, which she assumed should be functional from how clean it looked like. A wardrobe and a number of empty bookshelves. 

“Is there anything else you need?” One of the rangers broke the silence. She spoke curtly, not addressing her with a title or anything.

Well, while she knew that she needed to rest, her mind was filled with too much curiosity to find any kind of rest for now. And Jaina knew that she had to verify the rumors that Shaw had been hounding her ever since she had accepted the proposal, sooner rather than later. 

“Are any of the Queens around?” Jaina spoke as she set down her belongings.

The rangers looked at each other. One of them raised one of her brows, while the other one tilted her head towards Jaina. Jaina’s eyes darted between the rangers, waiting for their answer.

“Lady Alleria is away, preparing an assault against the Scarlet Crusade. Lady Vereesa is out for a moment but she’ll return shortly. Only Lady Sylvanas is available but she has told us that she is going to be leaving soon. 

“May I inquire what you need of them?” The other ranger asked. She bore the same look of cautiousness that Jaina had seen on Vereesa’s face the first time they had met.

“I have something to discuss with them. Can I meet with Sylvanas? It shouldn’t take too long.”

From their previous encounter, Alleria was the hardest to talk with. She was grateful that the eldest sister wasn't around then. Vereesa seemed to be more than content to avoid her. Sylvanas was easier to approach, even if she was the hardest to understand by far.

The rangers seemed to be debating if Jaina should be allowed or not before one of them gestured for her to follow them. Away from the Royal Quarter, they entered what Jaina realized was the War Quarter by reading one of the many signs. They turned into a hallway leading up to a door. One of the ranger’s knocked softly on it as she spoke quietly in Thalassian, before she got an answer from within that caused her to open the door. She gestured to Jaina to go in alone, as they seemed to be content enough to wait outside.

Inside the room, the Banshee Queen was writing something on her desk. She wore her armor even in her own office, with only her cloak placed on her armor stand. The Queen took a moment to glance at Jaina before she turned her head back to the parchment before her.

“Lady Proudmoore, is there something you need of me?”

Her tone was plain. It was so different from how she had addressed her during both times they’ve spoken during their meetings. With Alleria, it was pure hatred and anger. The eldest one didn’t mince words like the others. With Vereesa, it was cunning. There was a deeper meaning to her words, a hidden meaning that couldn’t be so easily discarded. Sylvanas? She hid something in her words that Jaina couldn’t seem to figure out at all.

“I wish to address a rumor that is floating around. It concerns the Forsaken.”

She groaned at the request, “And which rumor would that be? That we harvest the blood of our foes? Or that we tear apart our enemies from limb to limb for our food stocks?”

Jaina mentally winced at the image these words brought forth. No, it was something else, which concerned Varian and Shaw personally. And so they had both ordered her to confront this rumor on her return to Undercity.

She shook her head. “Neither of them, but I’ve heard that the Forsaken torture people and subject them to your experiments. Is this true?” 

Sylvanas hummed and answered nonchalantly, “That would be correct. If that was all, then you should return to your quarters and rest. I know you need it badly.”

Jaina blinked at how easily Sylvanas dismissed such concern. What was she playing at? She also tried to ignore that Sylvanas obviously knew that she had almost completely exhausted her magical reserves, and stepped even closer to the desk. 

“I really can’t tell if you are joking or not,” Jaina stated plainly, only to be met with an annoyed gaze as the Banshee Queen raised one of her brows to meet her eyes.

“I have no time for such games, Lady Proudmoore. What I said is the truth. The people who were tortured and subjected to such fate were death row inmates anyway,” Sylvanas answered as she dipped her quill to the ink again to continue writing.

Jaina gulped at how easily she spoke those words. How she seemed to justify her actions so easily. “If they are to be sentenced to death, then why prolong their life just to torture them and to subject them to experiments?” 

Sylvanas huffed at Jaina’s attempt to reproach her as she finally settled her quill down and met her gaze again. “If they are to die, then they better give us something as well to pay for their actions.” 

Though Jaina intended to debate more, she jerked back slightly when Sylvanas suddenly stood from her seat. The Banshee Queen took her cloak, latched it upon her back and went for the door Jaina had just entered through. 

“Follow me,” she said curtly.

Their walk took them to a darker path of the Undercity as they kept descending the steps and arriving at what looked like a prison. As Jaina followed her around, she saw a number of people on the ground. One of them saw Jaina and perked up, clinging to the bar of the cell.

“Please! Release us! They would turn us into one of those monsters, please!”

Jaina turned her eyes to Sylvanas who kept an impassive face.

“What had they done?” Jaina said, nearly scowling.

“They are not innocent, if that’s what you are asking,” Sylvanas said as she leaned against a wall.

“We’ve done nothing wrong!” One of them, a man of burly size complained.

Sylvanas scoffed at the claim. The two rangers who followed them didn’t seem to be impressed by the man’s claim at innocence.

“What crimes did they commit?” Jaina asked as she squared eyes against her, trying her best not to sound patronizing.

Sylvanas shrugged, “Why should I tell you? What point would it have? You wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

Jaina found it hard to trust her, really. The scheme she and her sisters setup for her and how they had successfully snared her here, was still on the back of her mind. All of it really made it really hard to trust Sylvanas as someone who didn’t have any hidden agenda with each move she made.

She decided however, to give her a benefit of doubt this time.

“Try me.”

“You can ask them yourselves,” Sylvanas said as she snapped her finger. One of the rangers, who followed her around, kneeled before the Dark Lady in an instant.

“Take that one out, Alina,” Sylvanas ordered as she pointed to a cell with a man who seemed to be underfed. The ranger spent no time unlocking the cell and pulled the man out, shackle still on his feet and arms as he got dragged out. The ranger threw him to the floor when the man tried to struggle. Sylvanas kneeled next to his limping form and reached her hand out to the man’s head.

“Tell her of what you did on the outskirts of Brill five days ago.” Sylvanas said as she grabbed his hair and forced him to look up at Jaina.

“I did what was right!” The man said as he grunted.

Sylvanas gritted her teeth as she repeated once more, “ _Tell. Her._ ”

“I did what anyone should’ve done to do to these monsters!” He spoke through gritted teeth, looking almost pleadingly at Jaina and shifted his gaze to Sylvanas a moment later, “To you! Putting your kind to rest!”

Sylvanas scoffed as she dropped the man’s head to the ground, “He burned a Forsaken household, consisting of a widow and her daughter. He ‘put them to rest’ by locking them in and then he burned the house down from the outside, leaving them no way to escape at all as they died their final death in agonizing flame.”

Jaina suppressed a gasp as the man didn’t seem to deny his actions as he growled at Sylvanas.

“They shouldn’t be walking around this world anymore!” The man forced himself to sit up and looked at Jaina desperately, “Please! These monsters deserved what was coming for them! For what they’ve done to this kingdom!”

In what seemed like an instant, Sylvanas kicked the man on his chest, sending him back to his cell. His body slammed against the cold stonewall of the prison. Her eyes glowed like ember as she scorned, “No one deserved this fate. _No one_.”

Dark energy and smoke bled out from the second sister for a moment before diminishing as Jaina blinked. Sylvanas’s crimson gaze held on to that man as the ranger locked the cell again. The man seemed to fall unconscious with that single kick the Banshee Queen gave to him. He will live, for now, with several broken ribs Jaina guessed.

“So there you have it, Lady Proudmoore. The other people here have committed similar crimes, and my sisters and I have judged them worthy of a fate worse than death.” Sylvanas said as she dusted her boots off, she looked disgusted with the whole situation.

“At least their death will mean something, unlike their actions that only provoked a pointless death on innocents and all just because they can’t get over their blind hatred towards us.” Sylvanas seemed to have no intention to wait for her as she went for the exit immediately, not looking back once to see if Jaina was following her.

Her gaze fell to the prisoners who looked away, too tired to do anything but waste away. They had already been so worn down that they were too exhausted to even speak up or to try to defend themselves. Though her soft heart told her to aid them, to take them away and to have them judged properly in Stormwind, her mind stopped her. 

The bracelet on her wrist hummed softly, a constant reminder of what would happen to her should she try anything that was forbidden by the Queens. Jaina could only keep her eyes closed as she walked away from pleas of mercy that wailed from the cells. One last look at the prison made Jaina wonder, who was the monster here?

-o-

“Having trouble with the new guest, my lady?”

The sultry voice came from the corner of her office as she entered the room. Sylvanas sat down in her chair and frowned when she saw the source of the voice. She so enjoyed lurking in the shadows ever since she had been raised.

“Didn’t I send you to go with Alleria alongside the Deathstalkers to assist her?”

Valeera shrugged, “She said Belmont would suffice and send me back. She wanted me to ask you to send Alina and Clea to the frontlines. She needs both of them to cover the flanks. Those zealots are getting crafty.”

Sylvanas sighed. Usually Alleria would tell her directly. Maybe she was somewhere out of their proximity to talk telepathically. A gift from that accursed prince.

“Alina and Clea are her escorts at the moment, though I suppose it can be arranged quickly.” Sylvanas settled on her desk as she pulled out a quill. The details of Naxxramas needed to be sent out soon so that paladin would be able to pull the attack off first before Kel’Thuzad send his forces to Stormwind. A pre-emptive strike was something Kel’Thuzad would never suspect. It was his greatest weakness, something Sylvanas learned well when she had been forced to work together with the Archlich.

“Why not assign me and Anya?”

Sylvanas raised an eyebrow, “You? I have no problem with Anya since she had previous encounter with Proudmoore before,” 

_Albeit indirectly,_ Sylvanas muttered to herself, “But you?”

“Oh, you wound me my lady. I will get along with her _just fine,_ ” Valeera said sweetly.

Sylvanas scoffed though she wouldn’t deny her capability to watch over someone. She was supposed to lead the Deathstalkers but refused the position as she preferred not to be in a spotlight. One of the finest rogues in her ranks.

_And one of my greatest sins._

Sylvanas sighed as she shooed her away, “Do whatever you want, Valeera. Don’t create too many problems.”

Valeera grinned as she vanished away immediately from Sylvanas’ office.

-o-

After what seemed like a day of rest, Jaina woke up on her bed in Undercity. Her mana seemed to be replenished well enough as she sat up. There was no nightmare that night , an odd occurrence. Ever since that dreadful day, her nights had always been frightful. There were several knocks on her door which prompted Jaina to call out to whoever was behind the door to wait, so that she could get dressed. Wearing her standard robe, she opened the door and came face to face with a Dark Ranger, different from the one who had escorted her yesterday. A smaller stature, yet no less armed. Jaina thought for a moment that she had seen her before but they all look similar. She carried a tray of food on her hand, alongside a pitcher of water.

“My lady,” She bowed lightly, “Lady Sylvanas told me to bring you these before she left,” The ranger said as she looked at what she was carrying. “May I set these on your table?”

The sudden hospitality was jarring to Jaina. But now that she thought about it, the last time she had eaten anything had been before she had arrived in Undercity.

She absent-mindedly nodded and let the ranger walk in as she set the food on her table. The ranger wasn’t less intimidating than those she had met earlier though Jaina felt a little… eased at this ranger’s behaviour . However she wondered about what the ranger told her.

_Sylvanas? To her, the second sister didn’t seem particularly interested in her well-being._

The ranger bowed and walked to the door when she was finished setting the tray on the table. As she was about to leave, Jaina stopped her.

“Wait, I want to talk with you.”

The ranger raised one of her eyebrows and looked towards her as her hand held onto the door, “My lady?”

“There are… some things that I continued to wonder about. About the Forsaken, and your Queens.”

The ranger seemed conflicted whether to answer or not. Thus far, Jaina had been met with distrust and contempt. If not, wariness as if she would suddenly decide to burn the city down out of pure spite. This ranger however, showed her none of these things. She hoped that she was a bit different than the others.

“I’m not sure it is my place to answer, my lady. I think either Lady Sylvanas or Lady Vereesa would be a better choice.”

_I really doubt that…_

“At the very least then, may I know your name?”

“My name is Anya, my lady. Anya Eversong.” The ranger bowed before she left. the door fell close behind her with a dull click. 

Jaina sighed as she sat and looked at the food that had been prepared for her. Steak alongside a number of fresh vegetables with bread and butter. Jaina wondered briefly where they acquired such a meal. Jaina decided to shrug that thought away as she checked the food for any traces of suspicious substances. Relieved when she found none, she proceeded to eat her meal. She would have prepared a cup of coffee though, to help her get through the day. 

As she had finished her meal, she could feel necromantic energy suddenly spiking from somewhere within the city. For some reason however, it didn’t radiate that sinister feeling she had felt whenever she confronted necromancers of the Scourge. She peeked outside to find Anya waiting for her. The ranger bowed as her gaze met Jaina.

“Anya, did something just happen?”

The ranger tilted her head slightly in confusion at the question.

“There seems to be… a spike of magic, just now. I can feel it within the city.” Jaina tried to describe what she felt though she failed miserably, hoping the ranger still could understand what she meant.

The ranger’s eyes widened for a moment, understanding what Jaina meant a second later, “Ah,” she nodded, “It was most likely Lady Vereesa, my lady. She is dealing with potential Forsaken members right now as we speak.”

_Potential members?_

“Can I see what she is doing?” Jaina questioned hastily. 

“Yes. The Dark Lady has allowed you to see nearly everything, except for a few things that are explicitly forbidden for outsiders to see,” The ranger said easily.

Both of them left the Royal Quarter and arrived at what was most likely the place where the Forsaken conducted their magical practices. She saw Vereesa, accompanied by two rangers and several necromancers, surrounding four undead who were chained to the ground. Two of them had already been put down by an arrow, clean through their skull, while the other two were waiting for their fate. 

Vereesa placed her hand upon the third one’s head as she murmured so softly that Jaina couldn’t hear what she was saying. Dark colored energy swirled from her hand and encircled his head.

“So you’ve decided then, your loyalty only belongs to the Scourge?”

The undead struggled briefly before he flashed a defiant grin at her , “The Lich King will be victorious, and his rule will eclipse all of Azeroth. Usurpers like you and your sisters will fall to him once more. You and your forces will be his slaves again.”

Vereesa’s hand slowly turned into a fist before she relinquished whatever hold she had onto the man. She turned to her rangers, and slid her thumb over her throat. 

The ranger she had turned to wasted no time to put an arrow through the still snarling undead. The yellow glow from his eyes faded and he slumped to the ground like the three before him.Only one was still remaining. She was held down by two guards, as she struggled slightly. Vereesa gestured for them to bring her up front as one of the necromancers moved the corpse away.

Once again, she reached out with her hand and did the same as she had done with the last one. She murmured several questions, as the undead woman flinched and held her head tightly.

“Do you wish for this fate? To be a servant for the Lich King? To serve him willingly?” Vereesa asked softly. Her voice was far different than when she had spoken with Jaina.

The woman clenched her teeth tightly as she bowed before Vereesa, struggling to utter an answer. “N-No! Never!”

Vereesa grinned at that before she continued.

“Do you wish to be free, or do you wish still to be a puppet for the Lich King? Answer me.”

Again, the woman struggled harshly as she held her head as she desperately answered, “F-Free…”

“Do you want to stand beside us, those who were wronged by the Scourge and seek vengeance against them?” Vereesa’s voice grew heavier as she fought to control the growing swirl magic she was using.

“Yes!” The woman cried out in pain.

Vereesa held out her other hand as her magic slowly spread over the woman’s forehead. Slowly, and carefully the magic focused around the woman’s head as she whispered, “Then be free.”

As she said the word, Vereesa released her grip on the woman. The undead shrieked as the magic that covered her head slowly dissipated. Jaina watched as a satisfied smirk spread slowly across the face of the youngest sister. The necromancers around her seemed to be relieved as well. Jaina’s ears deafened for a moment because of how loud the cries of the woman were.

The woman slumped on the ground and didn’t move for a long while, when she finally sat up she looked around and seemed, for a lack of better word, lost.

“Where am I?” The woman groggily asked. The guards approached her slowly and undid the chains that held her down.

“You are in the Undercity. Rejoice, for you are freed from the Lich King’s binding. No longer will you need to hear his whispers.” Vereesa kneeled in front of her as she spoke softly to the other woman.

“I’m free?” The woman looked bewildered as she held her head in her hands. She closed her eyes and opened it a moment later; a shocked smile was written across her face. “The whispers, they are gone!”

“May I know your name, young one?” Vereesa stood and gave her a hand.

The woman looked to her, smiling as she reached out to take it, “Adelia, my lady.”

“Adelia.” Vereesa pulled her up, “Rise, and choose your fate. Will you stay here and fight alongside us, or do you choose to live the rest of your unlife on your own. We shall not force you.”

A sinister smile was given to Vereesa which unnerved Jaina for a moment, “I will stay and gladly pay them back, my lady.”

“Good.” Vereesa turned around and looked toward the rangers behind her. Both of them bowed at her gaze immediately, “Areiel, Marrah, take her to the apothecary to treat her wound. Tell them to help her settle down.”

As the rangers escorted Adelia away, Vereesa spoke for a long moment to the necromancers with the unique language again. To Jaina it looked as if she was explaining something to the others around her, as one of them was busy writing down what she was saying.The guards brought a wheelbarrow and carried the rest of the corpses the rangers put down earlier away. As all of them dispersed except Vereesa, Jaina approached her in interest. 

“I suppose you have questions, Lady Proudmoore?” Vereesa said without turning her back, as if knowing that Jaina was there all along, watching how the “ritual” was going.

“You freed them?”

“Yes, basically I shut the Lich King’s whispers to them for a moment and talked to the person hidden away by his influence. If they are willing, then I can free them.”

“What about the others?”

Vereesa shrugged as she turned to Jaina. Her expression was calmer to her than what she had shown during their previous meetings. Perhaps she was in a good mood this time?

“They who willingly served him are lost cause. They’re better off killed as it was a futile attempt to turn them.”

Jaina hummed as she looked around. The people here called themselves cursed. Enslaved to torment. Bound to a fate that they never asked for. Yet, they managed to gather themselves and formed a solid force that was enough to fight the Scourge during their time of struggle, before consolidating themselves in the former capital city. Even to the point of pushing Kel’Thuzad away.

Vereesa didn’t seem to notice her gawking around the city as her tone suddenly turned dark.

“Before you ask anything that could enrage my sisters and I, no, we did not raise anyone after we regained our free will. We would never do such a thing.”

Jaina would be lying if she never thought about the Forsaken doing so. It was how the Scourge worked after all and it wouldn’t be too farfetched to assume the same.

“We gathered those who have reclaimed their free will and wanted revenge against the Scourge. Any Scourge forces we managed to secure, we undergo the process like previously before. That is mostly what my forces do.” Vereesa continued as she picked up her bow that was settled on a nearby table.

“What do Sylvanas’ and Alleria’s forces do then?”

Vereesa raised her eyebrow for a moment. It seemed she was deciding whether or not to tell her. Vereesa sighed Jaina followed alongside Anya.

“Alleria is focused mainly on military effort. She holds the responsibility of commanding the guards of the city, alongside our frontline forces, and she mainly coordinates the assaults on our enemies. Sylvanas on the other hand focuses her forces on subterfuge and our rangers, though she also deals with the political and diplomatic aspect of ruling, such as our talks with the Alliance and the short exchange with the Horde. She should be in Stormwind right now, talking with that paladin your king introduced, while Alleria is probably engaging the Scarlet Crusade, or at least preparing to do so.”

The Scarlet Crusade. Those zealots that Sylvanas had mentioned when they had met for the first time. A group that was hell-bent on destroying the Forsaken, and the Scourge both. They didn’t care about who they were killing. As long as they were undead they were to be destroyed, alongside those who allied themselves with the undead. So far there had been no reports that the forces of the Alliance had clashed with those of the Crusade. But if what Sylvanas had said was true then it was just a matter of time. 

“It is exhausting, don’t you think Lady Proudmoore? To fight for the right to _live_ on a day to day basis?” Vereesa asked sarcastically.

Jaina peered at the youngest sister for a moment. Her mood seemed to be lighter today.

“I never could have imagined that the Forsaken would be in such a turmoil.” Jaina paused before adding, “I’m glad that you and your sisters are willing to give us a chance.”

“A chance that you shouldn’t squander. We had enough betrayal as it is,” Vereesa answered flatly.

Years ago there had been a point when she had looked forward to meeting the youngest Windrunner sister, after Rhonin had told her of how kind she was. How her laugh had always managed to brighten his day. How deeply he had loved her, maybe even how deeply he still loved her even though he thought her dead. 

Feelings of regret slowly consumed her mind. Thinking of how much could have been changed if she had managed to change Arthas’ mind that day. How many lives she could have saved if she had managed to convince him to follow Medivh’s advice.

“No smart retort, Lady Proudmoore?” Vereesa’s words brought her back.

“No.” Jaina shook her head slightly, “The fault lies in us. In me. I should have been able to save more lives than I actually managed to back then,” Jaina said softly as she kept her hands at her sides. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at Vereesa.

“And now, you and the Forsaken suffer even now each day for my inactions that day.”

Vereesa stopped walking mid-step, causing Jaina to suddenly stop as well else she would have ran directly into the youngest Windrunner.

“Do you… truly regret that day?” Vereesa's voice was lowered. The bite that appeared in their earlier conversation had seemingly vanished altogether.

Jaina looked at Vereesa for a long moment before answering, “I do. I only speak the truth to you and your sisters. There’s no merit for me, in lying to any of you, especially about this.”

Jaina thought she was seeing things, when she for the briefest of moments saw how sad Vereesa looked. Her ears drooped slightly before directly straightening back up as she huffed almost immediately after.

“I must go now. Excuse me.”

Before Jaina could open her mouth to ask where, Vereesa had shifted her form and had turned into that of the black mist Jaina had seen during her first meeting with the sisters leaving Jaina alone with Anya once more. Jaina sighed, feeling that she had somehow made Vereesa uncomfortable with her answer. 

Anya stood silently behind her as she watched Vereesa go. The dark ranger’s expression was a bit unreadable but she was proficient enough in reading elven ears that she could see that her ears were too cantered in a slightly sadder expression than usual. Something else dawned on her in that moment, when she saw that Anya was alone. 

“Where’s the other ranger? I thought your Queens agreed that I’m always to be escorted by two of you while I’m here?”

The ranger huffed in frustration when she heard Jaina’s question.

“Oh, she’s around, my lady. She just prefers not to be seen. The Dark Lady doesn’t deny her method of keeping an eye on you.” Anya shook her head before she glanced to a nearby dark corner. Jaina however saw nothing there. She could only assume that whoever this was, she was exceptional at concealing herself.

“Though, calling her a ranger is… stretching it,” Anya murmured to herself, thinking that Jaina wasn’t able to hear her comment. The mage could’ve sworn however that she heard a faint giggle coming from that very same corner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next update hopefully will be quicker to make up for the late update! See you guys soon!


	4. Watchful Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaina nearly got herself into a trouble, Alleria got a chance to vent her frustration, and Sylvanas is dealing with denial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to ScouterFight for beta-ing the chapter. Wouldn't look half as good without the help!

It really annoyed Jaina that she still hadn’t been able to even get a single glimpse at this mysterious ‘ranger’, when she arrived in Theramore that morning. She had intended to try to understand the Forsaken a bit more, or at least learn a little more about the Queens after her conversation with Vereesa yesterday, however the youngest sister had been nowhere to be found after they had parted ways. Coupled with the fact that the other two sisters were also away, she had no one to talk to. Anya had kept quiet as well, as the ranger was afraid of overstepping about what could be shared with Jaina and what not. For now she had decided to return to her city. 

After all, a letter from Pained and delivered by Anya, had informed her that there were a number of trade deals that required her immediate attention. And with nothing else to do in Undercity she had chosen to spend the next two days in Theramore. Anya made no attempts to join her as she stepped through the portal, only informing her that someone else would shadow her during the next two days. Said shadow turned out to be one of Sylvanas’ finest rogues, as Anya had once noted. 

The feeling of being watched didn’t escape Pained either, causing the Kaldorei to be on constant alert. Whoever this rogue was, she had successfully unnerved Pained. Both Pained and Jaina recognized the presence of someone watching them, but they were unable to locate her.

“Can’t you just order her to show herself, my lady? It’s really unnerving, being watched all the time,” Pained complained as she settled the papers for Jaina to deal with on the desk.

Jaina huffed, “I’ve been asking the same thing almost all the time but she just ignored me.”

Well, that was not entirely true. The rogue just giggled each time, as she watched Jaina getting frustrated. Sometimes the giggles were louder but even then it was impossible for Jaina to find the source of the sound. 

As Pained leaned on the seat in front of her, she fixed her gaze on Jaina, maybe coming to terms with the fact that she would have to ignore this rogue.

“How are you doing, my Lady? I imagine it is stressful to live alongside them.”

Jaina sighed as she picked up one of the papers. A transport order, detailing its shipment of ores from Stormwind. These were meant for the Night Elves in Ashenvale. The elves had prepared woods that they harvested in return.

“It is… trying, Pained. But nonetheless, I’ve agreed to their terms. This is my decision, and I will stand by it,” Jaina said as she signed the paper, adding additional notes of fees for her guards to make sure the cargo for the elves arrived safely.

“How do they treat you my lady? If they treat you unfairly, agreements be damned. I will escort you there myself,” Pained vowed as she accepted the paper.

Jaina shook her head as she read another one. This time it was the trolls’ food harvest that was to be sent to Booty Bay. She quickly signed it with a note of transport cost, to be delivered to Orgrimmar.

“I appreciate your concern, but they treated me well. I’ve been reminded to eat properly and they didn’t neglect my well-being either.”

It had surprised her that a meal was always prepared for her without fail. Apparently each of her guards was under the strict order of the Dark Lady herself, even if she wasn’t around. It seemed that Sylvanas fully intended to keep her word, that she was a guest and would be treated as such. Jaina guessed however, that it was simply much more practical to keep her healthy. If she was being mistreated, then who knows what Varian would try to do in retaliation.

There was a sudden knocking on her door. Pained got up and opened it, revealing one of the guards. He stood straight as he saluted her. Jaina gestured to him to speak. 

“My lady, the Warchief of the Horde has sent an envoy, asking to meet you personally.”

_ Great, just my luck. _

Jaina had known that this was coming eventually. She had known that her actions of snatching the Forsaken away from the Horde would have repercussions in the near future. However she couldn’t have allowed the Forsaken to join the Horde, not without at least offering a position with the Alliance first, it just hadn’t felt right. After all the members of the Forsaken had once been the people of Lordaeron and Quel’Thalas, and with that they were former members of the Alliance. Even their leaders were some of the Alliance greatest heroes.

“Tell the envoy I will meet him shortly. Does the envoy mention where the Warchief is right now?”

“His ship is at the shore my lady. The envoy mentioned that he just visited Echo Isles and wanted to have some words with you.”

Jaina took a glance to the window overlooking the horizon. There was an orcish frigate out there. The cannons were retracted and didn’t display any other signs of hostility. At least that was something she wouldn’t have to worry about for the moment. 

The guard excused himself as he closed the door. Pained walked up to the window, glaring at the ship. It was no secret that the Night Elves harbored deep resentment against the Horde, even after their temporary Alliance during the Third War. The main reason was that the Horde continued to recklessly harvest the lumbers from their sacred forest. On top of that, Grommash Hellscream was the one that killed Cenarius. Such an action was not easily forgiven in the eyes of the Kaldorei.

As soon as Jaina finished dealing with the papers, she opened a portal leading to the Horde’s ship. Pained followed behind her. As they arrived on the ship, Thrall was waiting for her. His expression was serious and didn’t seem to be in any mood for friendly talk.

“I heard you wanted to talk with me, Thrall. Anything I should know about?” Jaina asked evenly, jumping to the matters at hand without attempting any kind of small talk.

Thrall however eyed around her, as if feeling something amiss.

“There’s a foul presence that walked with you, Jaina. I can’t see them but I can feel them close by,” Thrall commented, as his hand slowly reached for his hammer at his side.

“She was assigned to watch over me, Thrall,” Jaina said with her hands up slowly, trying to pacify the agitated warchief.

Still, that didn’t seem to convince Thrall. His expression became even more wary, ready for a fight. Jaina could also feel a familiar but faint dark energy begin to grow near them, as the situation became even tenser. 

“If she is your escort, then tell her to show herself. I don’t have the patience to deal with secrecy,” Thrall growled.

_ This could end badly. _

Jaina knew enough about the Warchief to know that Thrall had little patience with dishonest things like these. His bad mood didn’t help the situation either. 

Jaina closed her eyes and heightened her focus, trying to trace the remnants of dark energy she could feel around the dark rangers and around the queens when she was near them. She could feel it on her right, just so faintly. Jaina turned to that direction and opened her eyes as she gazed somewhere behind Pained.

“Please, just show yourself. If not for me, then for your Queen’s sake,” Jaina pleaded.

Pained looked confused initially before she realized what Jaina meant and positioned herself beside the mage, her sword at the ready.For a moment nothing changed, but then a small cloud of darkness materialized in the air a little bit away from where they were standing.

An undead elf appeared out of the ‘darkness’, and the first thing Jaina noticed about her was that her jet black leather armor was different from the dark rangers. More suited for close combat rather than ease of movement the rangers seemed to favor. Her hair was silvery blonde, with her ponytail protruding from her hood. She wore a black colored mask that covered her mouth. A pair of wicked looking daggers were strapped on her sides. Crimson eyes were directed at Thrall as soon as she fully formed, there was a tranquil fury behind those orbs.

“Foul presence, you say? Seems like my Queens made the right decision,” The elf sneered.

“So you are one of them.” Thrall looked a bit wary but his hand was no longer reaching for his hammer.

“Save your courtesies  _ Warchief _ . We  _ foul creatures  _ don’t need it,” She jabbed back easily.

Though Thrall was about to retort, he grimaced and kept it to himself. He held up his hands to signal his guards to stand down. They didn’t seem pleased with how their Warchief had been addressed by the undead woman.

His attention turned to Jaina once more after he finished addressing the elf, “Jaina, I heard that you’ve struck a deal with them.”

Jaina sighed, “It is only right, Thrall, that they have a place with the Alliance. They were once a part of us after all.”

The orc shook his head. “I don’t begrudge your decision, Jaina. I however would advise to treat carefully. The spirits don’t trust them.”

The elf scoffed. But, luckily, she kept any witty retort to herself.

His gaze fell to the elf for a moment, clearly unhappy about the disrespect she had shown him. He turned his attention to Jaina once more, “I trust that you are well, Jaina?”

“I’m trying my best Thrall. These past few days were...exhausting.”

“Very well.” He nodded. “I will not take more of your time, friend. I’m just concerned about your well-being,” Thrall said as he spared one last glance at the rogue.

As Jaina weaved another portal to return to her own office once more, the elf didn’t seem to bother to conceal herself again as she followed them. Pained, initially annoyed by the elf antics, didn’t seem to mind her this time. Maybe their shared animosity towards the Horde was something that they could use to bond over.

“If I ask you to appear, I want you to. Is that clear?” Jaina huffed as she sat down on her chair.

“You have to ask Lady Sylvanas about that. She has no problem with my method,” The elf replied nonchalantly.

Jaina hardened her gaze at the elf, “Then I  _ will  _ talk to her. Your action nearly provoked a fight between us and the Horde.”

The elf shrugged, it was as if she didn’t care that it had almost come to blows because of her behavior.

_ This elf is really irritating. _

Jaina huffed, calming herself down, she was tempted to freeze this elf, “Can I at least know your name then, when I talk to Sylvanas about your behavior later on?”

The elf chuckled at her, “Just tell her the cheeky one, she’ll know it.”

Jaina wondered for a moment. Any Forsaken she had met so far was always despairing about how their very existence was a curse and that their unlifes’ only meaning was seeking vengeance. None of them were this…  _ chirpy _ . She silently wondered how lively this elf truly was. She was so very different from the rest of the Forsaken she had seen thus far.

“You seem so different than the rest.”

The elf took off her dagger and played with it, tossing it upward and catching it again and again, “Because I’m not as stiff as the others when we talked about Lady Sylvanas? It’s because I know her.”

_ She talked about Sylvanas like a close friend, if anything. Like I am to Modera. _

Jaina raised one of her brows as she continued, “Are the two of you close?”

Jaina would have known even if she hadn’t been looking straight at the elf that she was grinning as the question left her lips. Her red eyes glowed, but not with anger as she had seen with Alleria, but with a deep sense of mischief, her ears flicked slightly. The rogue leaned slowly more weight onto her table, as her grin widened even further. “My my, what are you implying Lady Proudmoore? I never took you for someone who gets jealous so easily.”

Behind her, she could hear how Pained made a choked noise. The elf laughed at how red Jaina's face must be after that statement.

“Worry not, Lady Proudmoore. Lady Sylvanas is my Queen, not a lover or anything of that sort.”

The elf stepped away from her desk as she walked to one of Jaina’s bookshelves. She hummed lowly, as she stopped playing with the dagger, she absentmindedly sheathed it as her eyes scanned the rows of books, before she pulled one of them out.

Jaina recognized that book. The Rise of Silvermoon. She had bought it when she had been just an apprentice in Dalaran. She had immediately regretted not checking the book since it was written in Thalassian, a language she has yet to master.

The still unnamed elf looked down at the cover. Her humming faded away as her ears drooped and her tone changed, “And maybe perhaps, one of her biggest regrets.”

Jaina blinked at the sudden mood change the elf displayed . Although Pained was surprised as well, she kept quiet about it.

“What do you mean by that?” Jaina asked slowly.

She returned the book back to the shelf carefully. Slowly, she took off her mask, revealing a thin scar that seared through her lips diagonally. She wore a sad smile as she continued.

“She killed me. Clean shot through my heart as I tried to run away from the Scourge when I was alive. I was too brave for my own good I suppose, assassinating the Scourge’s higher-ups from time to time in an attempt to satisfy my lust for vengeance. It seems as if Arthas had enough and sent her after me.”

The room went quiet. Of course it was him again, it always seemed to come back to  _ him _ . Jaina wondered just how many atrocities her former lover had committed when it came to the people of Lordaeron and Quel’Thalas. 

“Do you resent her? For killing you?” Pained asked as she met her gaze.

The elf raised her brow, “Why should I?”

“She killed you, and raised you, didn’t she?”

Her gaze was sharp as she answered Pained, looking almost offended, “Forced. She was forced by Arthas to kill and raise me. She would’ve never done it if it was up to her. She wept for me as she released her arrow.”

Pained quickly fell silent, and so did Jaina. The elf however didn’t want to finish it at that.

“Just like her sisters and everyone else, all of us were slaves to him and the Lich King.”

The silence stretched on for a long while. No one could find a word to speak. Not the elf, not Pained, and not Jaina. The elf put on her mask again. Though she was about to vanish once more, Jaina slowly figured that she could learn a bit more about the Forsaken from this elf. About their Queens.

“Can you tell me about the Windrunners?” Jaina started again.

The elf eyed her curiously, “Why would you want to know about them?”

“I want to know who I am talking to. I want to learn who they are.”

The elf stepped quietly to the chair in front of Jaina. Her arms leaning on its top rail as her eyes seemed to be searching for something in Jaina. Pained looked at the situation silently.

The elf shook her head slightly at Jaina slowly, “Their stories are their own to tell my lady. It is not my right to tell you about it lest people will twist it into their own tongue.”

Though Jaina wanted to retort that she would never do such a thing, the elf continued, “I will tell you however, that they were everything to me. In life, and in death, they still are.” The elf bowed one last time before vanishing from view.

Jaina sighed as the elf left. She wondered silently how different they probably were from when they had been still alive, how much death had changed them.

-o-

The camps of the Scarlet Crusade were in clear sight. Her hand idly twirled an arrow she had crafted not too long ago, while she was waiting in the dead of the night as she was observing the movements of the zealots at night. A few guards wandered around the camp, keeping an eye out for any intruders. She saw some of them huddled together near the fires and praying. Alleria had scoffed at the sight. 

_ Pray to that Light you hold dearly so. Pray to it, for this will be your last night. When my wrath descends upon all of you, I’ll make sure all of you suffer as my people did. _

It was a sizable camp that housed an equally sized invasion force. That’s why she had sent Valeera back to inform Sylvanas that she would need more rangers. More was always better. She would never again make the mistake of underestimating her enemies. For the Forsaken. For her sisters.

She scowled when she heard movement behind her. She quickly had her arrow nocked and aimed at the spot from where the mysterious noise came from. Her arm grew cold as the arrow she aimed at the darkness slowly turned into one of her frost arrows.. However, as soon as she recognized the familiar hum of necromantic energy that was slowly approaching her position , she put her bow down. The blue glow which originated from her scars on her right arm, the visible remains of the tortue that had been inflicted upon her, dissipated and her arrow returned to normal once more.

The cruel torture from the accursed Prince and the experiments Kel’Thuzad had put her through resulted in this ability. The ability to channel the coldness of Northrend through her arm and into her arrows. While it may empower her shots significantly, it was but a bitter remnant of the cruel days during which she had been forced to serve under the Scourge. However she was not naive and would not let the bitter resentment cloud her judgement. Painful the memories of that time may be, the abilities the Scourge had ‘gifted’ her, were useful and she would use everything she had to destroy her enemies.

“You are getting sloppy, Vorel. I can hear your steps,” Alleria spoke curtly as she returned her arrow to the quiver.

“My apologies my lady, but Alina and Clea have arrived. The assault can begin shortly.” Vorel kneeled immediately when she was addressed.

“Are the flaming arrows ready?” Alleria asked as they walked back to where her forces waited. Their spot was perfect. They had the high ground and were covered by the darkness. From up here, they are going to rain down hell upon those zealots. The secondary forces which were going to be led by Velonara would run down any stragglers. Vorel and the newer rangers would be in charge of setting the camp aflame. With the explosive caches that had been disguised as food supply by the Deathstalkers and placed in strategic positions all around the camp that should be easy work, a few well placed flaming arrows and the entire camp would be set ablaze. She had faith in her rangers and knew that they all would perform their tasks superbly. Alina and Clea are going to be covering their flanks, in the unlikely event that their enemy manages to organize an ambush of any kind.

“Yes, my lady. We also have some bats to use as mounts to hunt those down that are fast on their feet.”

“Excellent,” Alleria spoke when they finally reached the place where her forces were gathered for now. A single speech was all she needed to rouse them. She was done with those self-righteous bastards who had terrorized her people ever since they had gained their freedom. Her forces were more than eager to shred these zealots to bits.

“Forsaken, heed my words!” Alleria started her speech. Her troops who were waiting for her command, busy with themselves, all turned their attention to her.

“Too long we have stayed still. For too long we’ve held back. They disturbed us as we waged a war against the Scourge. They have had the audacity to attack and kill our civilians when they did nothing against them but to simply exist in this world!” Alleria spoke vigorously as she looked into their eyes.

“They preached their righteousness!” She pointed to the direction of the Crusade’s camp, “Calling us foul creatures for something we never asked for, for an existence that has been forced upon us! They condemned us, to them we are no different than the Scourge! The Scourge that ravaged our lands and cursed us with this torment!” Her words roused the angry gurgling in the ranks. Clashing teeth and tightened jaws, she grinned when she saw how her words set their eyes alight with bloodlust, as she roused them for battle.

“No more will we hold our hand. No more we will let these bastards harass our people! We are the Forsaken! Our fate and will are our own!” They raised their weapons as Alleria raised her bow.

Her eyes glowed with burning anger, “Show them how futile their Light is! Show them the wrath of the Forsaken, for tonight we march upon them!” Alleria shouted one last time. The roaring war cry was more than enough to know for Alleria that she was going to savor every moment of this assault as she mounted her skeletal steed. With her forces following behind her and a number of rangers following from the sky with their bats, they descended upon the camp.

Her crimson eyes glowed brightly. With fierce determination, Alleria muttered to herself.

_ “And tonight, we hunt.” _

-o-

The Kingdom of Stormwind was as magnificent as many of the other human kingdoms were. The architecture while not as elegant as Silvermoon was, Sylvanas had to admit that its position was quite secure. The Scourge was going to be having some serious problems should they try to assault the city directly. The news that the Archlich was attempting to use the same tactic he had used against Lordaeron was imperative. The walls, and good defensive position of the city wouldn’t protect it in the event of a new plague. Should Kel’Thuzad succeed with his plans, then Stormwind would soon be just another Lordaeron.

The people however, were an entirely different story. Signs of the civil conflict were still clear through the city. Most of them were still recovering from the wounds that the Black Dragonflight has inflicted amongst them. How they had turned against each other. The death of the perpetrator had been a turning point and had allowed the city and its people to begin to heal, but they weren’t nowhere near done, the rebuilding from within was still taking time. 

Humans were… fickle beings. They couldn’t stand each other, especially during the times of peace, and just barely tolerated each other during war times. As soon as the Second War had ended this had become even more apparent, the Alliance had fractured almost immediately. The remaining human Kingdoms had split apart more and more, with both Stromgarde and Gilneas even pulling out of the Alliance completely after they had made their displeasure known about the decision not to simply execute the remaining orcs. Alleria had been furious when the news had reached them. Fuming within the safety of their family’s Spire about how they could do something like this, when the Second War was undeniable proof that they needed to work together, and that unity was clearly needed. That it had been unity that had given them the strength to push the Horde back, and that it was needed to eradicate the Horde once and for all.

Sylvanas however didn’t have time to wander around the city. Here, she sat with Bolvar Fordragon and Mathias Shaw. The former was the Highlord of the Silver Hand, or what was currently left of the Paladin Order He was going to be the one who would lead the charge against Naxxramas and against Kel’Thuzad. Mathias Shaw was the spymaster to the High King himself. There was no doubt in her mind that he probably had gathered massive amounts of information all across Azeroth in the service of his king. He had offered his SI:7 and her Deathstalkers could work together in the future. But Sylvanas on the other hand was reluctant. For now at least. 

Information was a great and valuable resource. They could tide the directions of a war. They could bring allies to comply, or even make their enemies retreat. It was a wealth with many purposes that was much more valuable than gold. A leader should know that such wealth shouldn’t be shared so easily, lest they will find themselves exhausted of it.

With that being said, she of course had spent some time gathering information around Stormwind as well. Whatever she was able to gather, in the short time she had been here, after all it could serve a purpose in the future to come. After she had arrived with Kalira and Lyana, she had immediately sent them both to find anything that they could use.

The Forsaken had yet to be fully joined with the Alliance. Their relationship was tenuous at best. The only thread that held it was the life of one person. Jaina Proudmoore. 

The woman had annoyed her yesterday. She had heard that the woman was deeply compassionate from Vereesa. But to such a fault? Who was she to question how she chose to deal with  _ her  _ prisoners? Proudmoore was but a guest. A captive in her plan, in a scheme she had concocted with her sisters. She was but a subject, nothing more.

Those defiant blue eyes which had gazed her that day had left a littering unrest within her for the rest of the night. So much so that she had made the mistake of allowing Valeera to watch over her. She should have known better, Valeera was a problem magnet. Placing that rogue so close to the mage, Sylvanas could only hope that whatever damage the rogue did or would do, was going to be salvageable. 

How was it that a single woman could so easily get under her skin? Was it because she had questioned her, and would probably do so again? Or was it because of her past with Arthas? It was a question she was unable to answer. And it annoyed her throughout last night, and the current day.

“Lady Windrunner?”

Sylvanas blinked as her name was called. Her gaze fell on the man who called her name as she stopped her pondering.

“My apologies, could you repeat that again?”

Both Bolvar and Shaw looked to each other for a moment before Shaw shrugged first.

“With your reports saying that most of Kel’Thuzad forces are necromancers, I would suggest that we send Paladins to fight them. They are the best equipped to deal with their foul magic,” Bolvar stated.

Sylvanas leaned forward to the war table and rapped her fingers momentarily.

“It wouldn’t be wise to only send the Paladins. The paladins are fine but also send additional forces who would be able to attack from afar, hunters or mages. I would also advise you to prepare your Champions, we are going to be needing them against Kel’Thuzad himself. He is definitely not someone you should underestimate.

“There’s also the matter of a large Frost Wyrm that circling the Necropolis as well,” Shaw commented.

“That Frost Wyrm is not like the others. I’ve seen Arthas’ Frost Wyrms before he departed to Northrend but none could compare to that one. You need to be ready to face that beast, if needed, you should use excessive force, we have no idea how much is needed to take this one down, _ ”  _ Sylvanas quickly noted.

Both Bolvar and Shaw nodded at Sylvanas assessment, the three of them turned their attention to a wooden piece that had been placed on the map somewhere near the Necropolis. It was meant to symbolize the forces of the Argent Dawn.

“We have had talks with the Argent Dawn. They are willing to aid us in ransacking the Necropolis as well,” Bolvar commented, as he pushed the Argent Dawn piece towards the necropolis.

Sylvanas looked at it warily. Working together with the Alliance was one thing, the Argent Dawn was different. Though Bolvar has informed her that their intention was noble and far less extreme than the Crusade, they still operate on the same basis of eradicating undead. Sylvanas wouldn’t trust these people so easily.

“I have something else to inform you of,” Sylvanas interrupted Bolvar and Shaw’s ongoing discussion about which champions to send. Their eyes turned to her almost immediately.

“As a Lich, Kel’Thuzad will have a phylactery to preserve himself. If he is defeated but the phylactery remains intact, all of our work will be for nothing. We will need to destroy it.”

“Can it be destroyed by conventional means?” Shaw asked.

Sylvanas shook her head. “Give it to me, and I’ll ensure its destruction. If someone else argues that they should have it instead of us, they are most likely one of Kel’Thuzad’s agents,” Sylvanas argued as she folded her arms.

Though they were about to argue, Sylvanas continued, “You will kill them, or I will. And I won’t hesitate when that time comes, whoever they are.”

Her word was clear. When it came to her , it was not a topic that they would argue about. It was a command and she was long past asking for permission, this would be done her way. The only thing that would come from letting the Lich King’s right hand escape would be disaster, and she would not allow others' ineptitude to be their undoing one day.Though looking unsatisfied with her statement, both of them nodded in agreement. They both realized the severity of the topic.

_ Smart men. _

With the planning done, Sylvanas wasted no time to return back to Undercity. Her mage stood by at the ready alongside Kalira and Lyana who had apparently arrived only minutes before her own arrival; they had most likely just finished scouting out the city. She immediately ordered the mage to open a portal back to the Royal Quarter, impatient to get out of the City, impressive it may be, but the Light that engulfed it was palpable even outside the Cathedral Square. She opened a portal back immediately to the Royal Quarter. She knew that by now Alleria had most likely started her assault on the Scarlet Crusade camp that they had spotted a few days ago. Her sister had wanted to go there herself to enact vengeance against those self-righteous fools. Vereesa should be accommodating the new recruits. 

So, it came as a surprise that she had someone waiting for her to return. She raised an eyebrow when she saw that Anya had apparently been waiting for her, kneeling as she did so. 

“Is there something you wish to report, Anya?”

The elf stood, “Yes my lady. Lady Proudmoore has returned to Theramore for the next two days. Valeera insisted that she wanted to be the one to follow her.”

Sylvanas palmed her head as she sighed. Of course she had insisted. In hindsight, telling her to do whatever she wanted to do was a mistake. She should’ve put some restraint on the rogue, since she knew that the rogue really liked to test her limits. Who knows what she was going to be doing over the next few days. She only hoped that Valeera wasn’t going to annoy the poor little mage too much.

“May I… ask a question, my lady?” Anya asked meekly.

Sylvanas looked her eyes to the young ranger with curiosity. Anya was always quiet and kept most things to herself. To find her asking a question was something that surprised Sylvanas.

“Ask away, Anya,” Sylvanas allowed, as she was walking to her throne, settling her bow and quiver against its side.

“Why are we treating the mage with such care? Obviously she could provide for her own needs.”

Anyone with proper common sense knew that much was true. A mage, especially of Proudmoore’s caliber would be able to tend to her own needs easily. They can make their food, mana cakes especially, on their own. She could also conjure furniture if she needed to as well.

“She is the means to a greater purpose, Anya. Something I’ve discussed at length with Alleria and Vereesa. Thus, she must be kept properly,” Sylvanas answered as she sat on her throne and crossed her legs.

“We also have to keep her healthy since she’s our guest. What kind of host would we be if we were to neglect our guest?”

Anya hummed, but Sylvanas knew she wasn’t buying it . If Sylvanas hadn’t known the ranger from before, from when she had been alive, she wouldn’t have noticed it. Of course Anya wouldn’t believe her claim that they were just keeping up appearances.

“Anything I should know then, about our  _ favorite _ guest?” Sylvanas inquired.

Anya took out two papers from her pouch and gave them to Sylvanas.

“Those are the things we have gathered over the last few days, my lady.”

Sylvanas opened it and noticed the differences immediately. There were two sets of different handwriting. One was clearly Anya’s, the other was obviously Valeera’s.

So, it seemed as if the little mage had witnessed the procession that Vereesa performed when she freed the dead from the Scourge’s grip. It was something that the two older sisters’ could do as well but neither Sylvanas nor Alleria were as proficient as Vereesa was when it came to this kind of task. Vereesa had apparently avoided their guest after she had talked to her. Sylvanas made a quick mental note to ask Vereesa about it the next time they met. 

Anya had kept her clear from the Apothecary. Allowing Proudmoore to see the Blight now would not end well, they weren’t ready yet to discuss this topic with the living, not until they were ready to deal with the Scourge once and for all. And after all it was still an unfinished project, her Apothecaries needed more time to refine the weapon before it could be used.

She quickly finished with Anya’s notes, finding nothing more of interest, and switched to Valeera’s.Sylvanas groaned when she skimmed the lines. She huffed as she read on. Valeera’s report was mostly just about the mage’s idle chit chat: her favorite meals, her day to day mutterings, complaints that there was nothing for her to do, even angrier mumbling about a lack of good books. Valeera’s report consisted mostly of things the mage muttered idly to herself when she thought no one was around to hear her talking to herself. The elf’s penchant for eavesdropping, was something she had brought over from her previous life.

While it was mostly useless information, Sylvanas picked up a few things that could prove to be of use, and maybe some things she could arrange in the future as well. Sylvanas supposed some of those things can be arranged. Fish pies would be tricky as they were not a standard meal. Sylvanas shook her head, it was almost careless and dangerous that the mage hadn’t realized that even her idle talking would be noted. Black coffee was much more manageable, she would have to just order a simple shipment from Stormwind, though her people had no need for drink nor food, the taste of coffee for example was a luxury that could still be appreciated. 

Her train of thoughts stopped suddenly however. She frowned when she realized where her mind had taken her. Why did she give so much thought to this woman anyway? After all this was nothing more than a guise, a means to an end. It was nothing more than that. Proudmoore was what she and her sisters needed for now. 

She shook her head, because while that may be true, it didn’t mean that little things like these couldn’t give her an even greater advantage over the woman, they could gain her trust and use that against the enemies of the Forsaken. If Proudmoore was willing and cooperative then they could use this powerful woman, both magically as well as politically, as much more than just a bargaining tool. Her compassion was something that she and her sisters could use and take advantage of. 

“She also… seemed to have a nightmare yesterday before she left. Whenever she forced herself to sleep again, the nightmare returned. She also shuffled in her sleep a lot whenever she was in bed awake or asleep, as Valeera noted before they left.”

“Any idea of what terror plagued her sleep?” Sylvanas asked curiously as she handed back the papers.

“From what I can tell it has something to do with her father. She murmured words while she slept and more times than Valeera can count the word sorry was muttered. Valeera told me that she will investigate this matter soon.”

Sylvanas pondered this quietly. What could have happened between Proudmoore and her father to rouse such a reaction? She mused to herself that if anyone could discover it, that it would be Valeera. Despite her playful nature, she would be able to get answers. She had never failed Sylvanas in life, and the Banshee Queen knew that she wouldn’t fail her in death either.


	5. Shadows of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Valeera revealing herself and Sylvanas having another thought of her guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is not beta-ed, any mess is made by me personally. Sorry beforehand!

_She’s writhing again in her sleep._

This was not what Valeera was expecting to see when she observed someone like Jaina Proudmoore. She was so frail and small in that bed of hers, whimpering and uttering apologies again and again. She had expected so much more from someone who fought valiantly against the Burning Legion.

But then again, she burdened a heavy sin. It didn’t take much eavesdropping for Valeera to know what disturbed her sleep almost every night. The streets of Theramore, although peaceful and seemingly pure, still had secrets on its own. The secret being was how Jaina Proudmoore let her father die at the hands of the Horde.

How her father took over her city of refugees from the Eastern Kingdom and staged it as his own personal base to assault the Horde. The very Horde that she was allied to at the moment.

It irked Valeera greatly. The Horde. She was as much as in disagreement with Lady Alleria in that case, but she can see the points that Lady Sylvanas brought up. There were words that this Horde was different from the old one, but Valeera remained skeptical. How they changed from bloodthirsty monsters to honorable warriors. Valeera scoffed within her mind.

_Honorable. How ridiculous._

They didn’t trust her. Didn’t trust the Forsaken as a whole. Calling her presence ‘foul’. Valeera scowled deeply back then before revealing herself to them. She was so tempted to stab the Warchief on his throat. Cut his head off and present it to the Windrunners. She knew at least Lady Alleria would be thrilled at that. If not because of the precarious position the Forsaken in right now, she would’ve done it the moment she saw him. However she had to wait. She had to stay calm for her Queens’ sake.

_A revenge, paid in full for the deaths they had caused to the Windrunners._

In life, she would think twice against her opponents for a while before ending them. She would exhaust them of anything she can gather before finishing them off. In death, she became more volatile. Her fingers were itching to murder those who even so slightly angered her. Especially those who even dare to speak anything bad about her Queens.

Valeera was pulled from her thought as she noticed the mage grimaced in her sleep.

“I never… wanted this…”

She looked so pitiful in this state. But she understood well how terrifying nightmares were. How helpless one may fight against it. How weak they were to fight against its terrors. Her younger self was way too familiar with such experience. And she was all too familiar in how to deal with it.

Valeera stepped off from the top of the bookshelf she lounged at and walked so silently towards the mage.

_Need to be careful. She would turn me to a popsicle if I’m not quick enough to dodge her spell._

Her hand reached out to Jaina’s shoulder in a swift yet soft motion. A simple nudge.

“Hey.” Valeera whispered quietly.

Just that simple touch was enough for the mage to open her eyes. Mana surged within those eyes as an ice spike instantly formed on her hand. Valeera was prepared however, immediately turned into her banshee form and slid away from her sight.

The mage looked around momentarily, searching for her undoubtedly before she dispelled her ice spike and her breath slowly calming down. As she saw her finally in her usual state, Valeera reappeared before her. The mage sighed, both exasperated and relaxed at the sight of her.

“Please don’t do that again.” Jaina said as she palmed her face. Cold sweats were still dripping from her forehead.

Valeera shrugged, “I can’t stand watching you like that.”

“Like what?” Jaina asked as she raised one of her eyebrows.

“Whimpering, terrified,” Valeera replied as she settled on a nearby chair that settled next to Jaina’s desk, settling her feet on it, “Helpless.”

Jaina sighed as she looked at Valeera. The moonlight shone her form as she played idly with one of her daggers.

“As much as I appreciate your help, I prefer you stay out of my room.” Jaina tried to wave her away as she avoided her eyes.

Valeera chuckled, “You’re welcome by the way. Our experience may not be the same, my lady but I understand the terror of the night that comes with each sleep.”

Both of them remained silent for a while. Jaina sat at her bed, as if she was pondering whether to return to sleep or to chase out Valeera from her room. Valeera can hear the beating of her heart slowing down to a normal rate slowly. Her breaths also turned to her usual rate.

“So you know about what I dreamed then?” Jaina finally broke the silence as she finally met her gaze. A simple nod was all the answer Jaina needed from Valeera. She didn’t need to explain where she would know it from. The mage could figure it out herself.

“What was your experience then? You said you understood it?”

‘Ever the scholar, aren’t you?’ Valeera muttered to herself as she pondered whether to answer her or not. ‘I guess I owe her that much then.’

“I did tell you that the Windrunners are everything to me, right?” Valeera asked. Jaina simply nodded in response.

Valeera huffed as she looked at the ceiling for a moment, before she set her gaze at the mage.

“I was still a child back then. My house was ransacked by a bunch of raiders and my parents were murdered before my very eyes. I saw them die before a small hole within a hidden cellar where my father used to stash his wines.” Valeera started. As expected, Jaina looked speechless, just like others who heard the story before her. The Dark Rangers as well when they were alive, which she would consider a small family of her own.

“I hid there for two days before Lady Sylvanas found me, who arrived alongside Lady Lireesa.” Valeera chuckled, “I still remembered Lady Sylvanas rubbed her ears for hours as I screamed at her for finding me.” She noticed the mage smiled faintly as well.

“I was about to be sent to an orphanage in Silvermoon but I clutched so tightly at Lady Sylvanas’ leg and refused to go. Lady Lireesa relented and took me in as one of the servants.”

“As I served them, I grew close to each of the family members.” Valeera smiled faintly as she looked outside the window, “I remember how patient Lady Lireesa was as she disciplined me from time to time again, for mistakes and mischiefs I made. I remember how cold Lady Alleria was before she grew warm to me as I aided her in bringing her hunts back to the Spire. I remember how kind Lady Vereesa was as she bought me treats whenever she returned from Silvermoon. I remember how caring Lady Sylvanas was as she combed my hair and told me that I should keep myself proper like a lady,” 

She found herself nearly stuttering as she was about to utter the last member of the Windrunner. But she could now. It was years after all, and she had buried the past way before now. Regaining her composure once more, she continued.

“And I remember how playful Lirath was as I spent a lot of time with him, being the similar age we were.” Valeera recalled those moments. Oh how those moments were her most joyous one. How happy she was back then.

Valeera’s ear drooped as she continued, “And then, everything fell apart when Lady Lireesa passed, and shortly Lirath. I blamed myself back then for Lirath’s death so many times. I was supposed to be the one to visit the village, not him. I got a fever back then when it was supposed to be my turn to stock up the Spire. He went there in my stead. And… he died as the village was raided by the Horde.” She met Jaina’s gaze for once. The mage seemed to be tearing up as well.

“Nightmares come to me afterwards. Of how it was my fault. Of how I should be the one to die. Of how useless I am. Visages of Lirath blaming me for his death.” Valeera’s hand stopped playing with her dagger, slightly trembling.

Valeera smiled thinly, “However, his sisters were having none of that. All of them told me that it wasn’t my fault. Each of them would check on me every night afterwards. When I started having nightmares, they would comfort me. Lady Sylvanas was the one I usually wake to since Lady Alleria and Vereesa were away a lot during that time. She once chided me that Lirath would never want me to blame myself.”

Silence stretched on for a long while as Valeera gazed to the moon outside. 

‘Lady Moon. She used to call me Little Shadow for following her a lot when I was just a child.’ She chuckled to herself.

“I’m sorry for bringing up such painful memories.” Jaina muttered quietly.

Valeera waved her away, “I owe you that much, Lady Proudmoore. A story for a story, right?” Valeera stood up. She supposed it’s time to leave the mage alone. Taking more time of her rest wasn’t proper, “And it’s Valeera. Valeera Sanguinar.”

Valeera gave Jaina one last bow before she left Jaina’s room. A small sense of relief washed over the rogue as she went to the roof to relive her memory with the Windrunners when they were still alive. Cherishing every moment they spent together.

-o-

Morning came too soon for Jaina’s liking. Especially after the restless night she endured just now. Her thoughts floated idly as she sat within her office. It won’t be long before she was needed to return to Undercity. The bracelet thrums lightly on her arm. A quiet reminder of her time in Theramore would soon be up and it will be several days before she could return here.

Curiously, Jaina looked upon the bracelet that she attached herself ever since that day. It felt like something was sealed underneath the enchantment that will drain her. It was of Quel’dorei design, no doubt because of its intricate look. Three grey colored oval shaped stones were placed around it. At the center of it, something was hidden. Her curiosity had to wait however. If the rulers of the Undercity knew she tampered with it, that would be troublesome.

The Windrunners. Valeera told her about them last night. There was no hint of deceit or lies at her story. She looked genuinely offended when Pained asked her about Sylvanas raising her. Pained went quiet afterwards, maybe regretting those words she said.

And that glare she sent to Thrall. It was a dangerous one, calm yet deadly. It was clear that she held as much as resentment to the Horde as the Windrunners did.

As if on cue, Valeera appeared before her. She made her presence known this time.

“It’s time, my Lady. Anything else you need before you return?” She said in a playful tone.

Jaina shook her head slightly as she stood up, “No. My tasks are done. We should go shortly.”

Valeera simply nodded and let her walk pass her. Jaina hung her head low and turned her head slightly to Valeera. “You will tell them about last night, weren’t you?”

Valeera gave no indication to answer whatsoever. Of course she will. She was a loyal retainer to the Windrunners in life. That loyalty didn’t seem to change as well in death. She won’t hold such a secret to herself. It will, however, be a problem for Jaina. From how the rogue told her yesterday, the Windrunners had grudges against the Horde. The Horde took their mother and little brother away from them. Who wouldn’t?

But this Horde was different. It was not the Horde they fought in the Second War anymore. They shouldn’t be lumped together because of the wrongdoings of their past leaders. Thrall has shown himself being honorable as he led them back then. He stayed true to his word that no civilian was harmed during his offense to Theramore when her father used her beloved city to strike at them. The Horde of the past won’t care about that one bit.

Jaina weaved a portal towards the upper ruin of Lordaeron and stepped through. The view was slightly different. There were more Forsaken than before as she entered Undercity. Most of them wore armors as if they just arrived from a battle. Some were bruised, some suffered burnt marks. She could see several imposing guards passed her by without even giving her a glance. She had never seen them around before.

“Ah, Lady Alleria has returned. Those were her Deathguards.” Valeera spoke next to her as she passed the portal.

“Didn’t one of the Dark Rangers say that she was attacking the Scarlet Crusade?” Jaina raised one of her brows as she looked at the rogue.

“She did, and it seems like the usual. She returned victorious.” Valeera shrugged. Her eyes were searching for something around the halls of Undercity before settling to something or someone. Jaina followed her gaze as it landed on Anya who was walking towards her, bowing as she arrived before her.

“Excuse me for a moment my Lady. I have reports to make.” Valeera gave her an indescribable look before she bowed, “Take it easy, yes? I’m sure one of them understands.”

Just like that, she vanished again before her eyes with a wink.

_Take it easy huh._

Jaina wondered idly what this would mean for her. Where she let her father fall before the Horde, the Windrunners fought staunchly against them. To avenge their mother and brother. The only time they were willing to let themselves work with them was because they needed the Horde to fight against the Scourge or the Alliance before Jaina managed to persuade them and agreed to their terms. Will they hold a grudge against her? Or will they understand her decision?

Anya looked at her curiously at her side, maybe wondering what kept her quiet for so long. Jaina eventually stopped pondering and gave a quick glance to the ranger.

“Is Sylvanas around?” Jaina asked.

“The Queens are in the War Room at the moment, my lady. If you wish to meet with the Dark Lady, you could wait for her in front of her office or at your room. I’ll tell you when her Highness has finished with her meeting.” Anya answered plainly.

Jaina hummed for a moment but didn’t take long to decide, “I’ll wait for her in front of her office. There are things I must discuss with her.”

-o-

“She did what?!” Alleria snarled.

Sylvanas, Alleria, and Vereesa had just discussed furthering the invasion of the Scarlet Crusade in the War Room before Valeera appeared and delivered the report. While the Alliance dealt with the Scourge, Sylvanas had sent a word to the High King that the Forsaken would keep pressing the Crusade. Last known report was that Bolvar already made his move towards the necropolis. It will be a few days before the place fell, should everything proceed as planned. She or her sisters will oversee the retrieval of Kel’thuzad’s phylactery at any cost.

_So Daelin Proudmoore died as her daughter watched alongside the Horde._

“Her father insisted that no peace can ever be made with the Horde. Jaina Proudmoore however insisted otherwise and chose to stand with them rather than her father. Although Kul Tiras calls for retribution from The Alliance, they remained indifferent as to her action. This, in return, made Kul Tiras pull themselves from the Alliance. Kul Tiras didn’t put the blame on the Alliance however. They blamed the death of the Lord Admiral to her.” Valeera relayed the rest of the information she gathered.

Sylvanas remained silent as Valeera spoke. There was a sliver of anger that plumed within her but it failed to rise any further than it should be.

Alleria was fuming next to her. Alleria once told her that Daelin Proudmoore was a good man, to his people. She viewed him highly as his aid during the Second War was paramount. His death probably wasn’t something she expected.

Vereesa seemed conflicted at the information. Her hands twitched slightly again and again. It was a habit she kept through from the time she was alive. Her eyes glowed ablaze yet it was a contained anger compared to Alleria’s rage.

“If that’s all Valeera, you may return to your duty again. I’ll discuss this with my sisters.” Sylvanas said plainly. The rogue nodded and left the room.

“Why the Alliance didn’t land a judgment on her was beyond me. Has the Alliance been this soft against the Horde ever since we fell?” Alleria spoke first, crossing her arms as she did.

“The circumstance was they were allies during that time, Alleria. Even now they remain on friendly terms as far as I Valeera described.” Sylvanas said plainly. “We can’t judge her for the actions of her father that led to his own demise.”

“Our judgment meant nothing either way. She is outside of our jurisdiction.” Vereesa added simply, a slight frustration on her tone.

“No, but she isn’t trustworthy. Why would I want someone who sacrificed her own family to be anywhere near me? We should replace her with someone else.” Alleria retorted as she looked over the map.

“With who, sister? This is not the time for us to be able to choose as freely as we can. We do not have such luxury.” Sylvanas said as she looked at Alleria closely. She truly thought that the last skirmish she had done would temper her anger better. That didn’t seem to be the case unfortunately.

Alleria harrumphed as she clenched her fist tightly.

“This information will not change our decision for her as our guest. We simply knew her better this way.” Vereesa chimed in. Sylvanas nodded at her assessment.

Alleria shook her head, “We know she isn't above sacrificing those she loved in the name of this fragile peace she holds to the Horde. This naivety would get her killed one day.”

“There would be no loss for us when that time comes, though hopefully when we’re done with the Scourge however. A mage of her caliber is a huge boost to our cause despite her sentimentality.” Sylvanas added.

It was a simple statement based on the knowledge they gathered. Valeera has gone through more than what she had expected of her to gather. When the three of them saw Archimonde appeared, all of them despaired that Azeroth had truly lost. Such was the power that the Left Hand of Sargeras had. The Lich King whispered to them however, that the Legion will fall eventually.

That Archimonde fell under the united strength of the Kaldorei, the Horde, and the humans that Jaina brought alongside her was not a feat the three of them could easily dismiss. If the mage can be influenced properly, she would be a powerful weapon to behold.

Somewhere inside her however lurched as she spoke those words. Thus far, she was the only person that didn’t treat the Forsaken like a sickness. She heard words from her people that she treated them with smiles even if they didn’t do the same to her. She treated them like an equal, not a filth that many living beings have seen them become. 

Can she really throw away a person who had shown them a sign of kindness the first time ever since they were raised? Can she really use her like a weapon, not a person, against the Scourge?

She shook her head mentally.

_No, this is not the time for me to go soft. They are but an arrow to my quiver. Including that little mage against the Scourge. For my sisters’ sake._

The meeting was adjourned shortly afterwards. The results of the raid that Alleria has pushed forward revealed rather disturbing news. There were signs that either a traitor or a dreadlord was the mastermind behind the Scarlet Crusade, manipulating them from within. As Alleria assaulted the camp, her forces found notes and parchments about how the Forsaken operated. Descriptions which were a little bit too detailed that only those who previously worked with them knew. Alleria’s suspicions turned out to be correct as she dropped her usual guerilla tactic and lay storm to the camp instead.

There was another matter that Sylvanas pursued. With the Scarlet Crusade cleared for now, her agents and dark rangers will be able to travel much easier towards the northern section of the Eastern Kingdom. Sylvanas stated before her sisters that she planned to scout any remnants of Quel’dorei they could find. There was no debate about it and they all agreed immediately to the idea.

She had sent Belmont and Alina to do this. Both of them have resumed their tasks after aiding Alleria and moved towards Quel’Thalas. Both were supplied hearthstones as well to report immediately should they find a matter of importance during their travel. She wasn’t so naïve however to think they were alone in this matter. No doubt the Alliance had sent their agents to the north as well after learning their triumph.

Until their very last, Quel’Thalas remained amongst the Alliance with Alleria’s effort to keep them united, despite how much it annoyed the Convocation of Silvermoon and the King himself. Only after Garithos chased them away that Kael’thas pulled the decision and seceded.

The last thing she knew about the last of the Quel’Dorei was that some of them escaped to the portal Kel’Thuzad made when he summoned Archimonde to this world. They escaped Garithos’ cruel judgment alongside Kael’thas. She knew little afterwards as the prisoner, who previously served Garithos, did not know any more after that as he breathed his last. The rest of their fate remained unknown to her, much to her dismay.

_How a single human could cost us so much is beyond me. Wrynn should’ve given me something for getting rid of that waste of breath._

She remembered vividly how that man approached her to exile her sisters and the rest of the Forsaken after they reclaimed the capital city. Only to be surprised however, when he realized three arrows lodged onto his chest, piercing through his armor. With his last breath, he tried to cuss them only to find himself silenced as Alleria beheaded him herself.

Each of them dispersed as they had nothing more to discuss. It was a surprise however, to see Anya and Proudmoore waiting for her outside of her office. Alleria gave the little mage a disgusted glare before leaving towards the barracks. She noticed the little mage flinched underneath the burning gaze of her eldest sister. Vereesa spared her a quick glance before leaving towards the Royal Quarter as well.

“Is there something you need this time, Lady Proudmoore?” Sylvanas said as she opened the door to her office.

She could see hesitation within those blue eyes that blinked as she entered her room. Humans may be harder to read because of the lack of movements on their ears but Sylvanas was adept enough to notice the little things they did.

“There are things I wished to talk about.” Jaina followed shortly behind her. Anya stood watch outside of her office as usual.

“Go on.” Sylvanas said as she rounded her desk and settled on her chair.

Proudmoore stood in front of her. She shifted slightly before puffing herself and looked at her as she straightened her back.

“We nearly clashed with the Horde because of Valeera’s stubbornness. I want to make this clear that provoking the Horde’s Warchief is _not_ what I had in mind when you told me that one of your people will follow me around.” Her demeanor was serious.

Sylvanas sighed. 

_Of all the things she started._

But she knew Valeera wouldn’t do such a thing unless provoked. She could remember it slightly how the rogue punched a magister on his face when he murmured a slight insult about her. She can only suspect that the Warchief has said something the rogue deemed unacceptable.

“Valeera is… many things, but never had she acted out of malice.” Sylvanas stated, “But nonetheless, I’ll be sure to reprimand her of her behavior.”

Though Sylvanas was about to dismiss her, the mage chose to sit on the chair in front of her. She dared not to see her gaze in return this time. Did she fear her? Did her gaze unnerve her?

Jaina cleared her throat before she resolved herself to look at her, “I… we also talked a little bit, and I asked her about all of you.” Sylvanas ears twitched as she heard the mage murmur.

“Oh? And pray tell what she had said about us.”

The mage observed her for a moment, an indescribable look on her face that intrigued Sylvanas all the more.

“She spoke of how she met you, and the others. And about everything your family had done to her. Before the Scourge ravaged your land.”

Sylvanas lied silent. It was her turn to shy away from the soft gaze the mage gave to her. 

She still remembered the first time she met Valeera. How she clung to her so tightly and towards the rest of her family. She also remembered her enlisting as one of the Farstriders after Lirath’s death and unfortunately failed as she was not adept at using bows. That didn’t stop Sylvanas however to train her using daggers and swords every time Sylvanas came home to the Spire.

And she remembered the name she gave to her, like Alleria had given to both herself and Vereesa.

‘Little Shadow’

The silence stretched on for a while until she noticed the mage fidgeting with her own hands and a sorry look was clear on her face as she sneaked a glance at her. As soon as she met her gaze, she looked down as if she was guilty of something.

_Is that guilt however? Or was it pity?_

Pity that she was dead? Pity that her inaction had a part of what she had become? Anger stoke at such a notion. She didn’t need pity. She never needed one and never asked for it. How dare she?

“ _Do not pity me Proudmoore_.” Her tone was dangerously low. The mage snapped indignantly.

“I don’t pity you!” She protested almost instantly before faltering once more as her blue colored eyes met her crimson red, “I… I just hoped that things would be different. I wished that I had warned Silvermoon before I left for Kalimdor.”

Sylvanas scoffed, “It would be pointless and I assure you, that your voice will go unheard by the Convocation of Silvermoon.”

Old men who think they knew better than what was on the field. She won’t miss any of them.

She set her gaze to the woman once more before intending to dismiss her, “It is a waste of time to remain in the past, Proudmoore. Learn from it, and walk from it. Letting yourself stuck in the past is pointless.”

The mage grew sullen once more on her advice, “Valeera had told you about what happened in Kalimdor, didn’t she?”

Sylvanas didn’t really mean any of that when she spoke, but she understood why the mage would take it that way. Her anger ebbed slowly at the troubled look on the mage. She sighed as she clasped her hands, resting her arms on her desk.

“I may not like your decision that you stood alongside those savages, but I understand why you would do so. Just as I had my intention to join the Horde previously before you arrived. I hated the decision, but I understood the necessity of it.”

The mage widened her eyes as she met her gaze. She closed her eyes as she let out a shuddering breath, smiling faintly as she did. Was that relief she saw? 

“Thank you.” She murmured quietly, almost a whisper.

Sylvanas blinked, surprised at the word the mage uttered at her, “What for?”

“Understanding.”

The small smile Jaina gave to her stoked something within her. She didn’t understand what it was. She was certain that she didn’t like it, yet anger didn’t rise within her. Sylvanas sighed, slightly frustrated at the feelings she didn’t understand that pestered her. 

She pulled out one of the drawers where she stashed one of the wines she reserved for stressful days. She may not taste much anymore, but such a habit was hard to let go. She set it on her desk alongside a pair of wine glasses.

The mage stared dumbly as Sylvanas poured the wine to both glasses.

“What are you…”

“Consider this a courtesy from me, Lady Proudmoore.” Sylvanas said as she slid the glass carefully to the mage. “A treat, from the Banshee Queen herself.” She eyed the mage as she took a sip herself.

The mage looked at the glass warily as she took it. For a moment, Sylvanas thought the mage would check the wine first. Another warmth filled her as the mage didn’t. Sylvanas couldn’t hold back a chuckle as the mage slightly choked and coughed after her first sip.

“Thought I suppose I should’ve warned you first that our wine is known for how sweet it is, compared to Kul Tiran’s ale.” Sylvanas said as she lazily shook the glass to stir the wine.

She could hear the mage murmuring ‘Insufferable’ as she drank the whole thing immediately in defiance. Sylvanas could only grin at her annoyed look and pour another one on her glass. The thought of dismissing the mage back to her quarter faded away as she drank her wine.


	6. Interlude - Of Despair and Fleeting Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vereesa's past with the Scourge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit rough this one.

_ Nothing. She was nothing. _

_ She kept reminded of that fact every time she stumbled as she walked through the corridors of this castle. There was nothing. She felt nothing else but the cold that crept within the wound on her stomach and where her eyes used to be. Yet Vereesa walked. She wandered still on this ground as her hand kept its touch on its walls. _

_ Previously, she was raised as one of the banshees. Forced to kill those who she once was sworn to protect. To kill those who were defiant enough to fight against her master. As her purpose was served when her people were scattered, her master saw it fit to humiliate her further and turned her into a servant.  _

_ A servant. Such was the fate that was forced unto her. _

_ Ever since she had returned to her body, darkness was all she could see. She had to rely on her touches and hearing to recognize her environment. She was forbidden to even shift into her banshee form, which would return her sight even momentarily. This body served as her reminder. Of a price she had to pay for her defiance when she was alive.  _

_ She stumbled again and again as she tried to memorize where she walked. At times, she knew where to walk but other times, she was tripped by someone and couldn’t even find it in her to bark at whoever did it to her. It was nauseating. It was infuriating. _

_ She was given a tray one day; she knew not what was on it and told to go to the main hall. She walked again as she held the tray, following the noise of chatters. She tried to remember again where she would stumble. Where she would hit a wall if she kept walking on. But then, she fell again as something swept her off her feet. _

_ Laughs. Sinister laughs filled the room she fell. All of it mocked her as she tried to stand up. Whatever it was that was on the tray would be scattered somewhere in front of her. She hung her head low as she stood up again. It was humiliating. Frustrating. Yet she can’t do anything to defy it. _

_ As she tried to gather back whatever had fallen from the tray, her left arm was suddenly grabbed as she was pulled standing and ushered forward. She was forced to kneel and bow by someone on the right side as she stopped. There was a low growl coming from the one who grabbed her arm as her head hit the cold stone of the castle’s floor. And then she heard a dark chuckle. _

_ A voice all too familiar. It was him. _

_ Her torturer. Her murderer. Her master. _

_ “She can barely do anything right, and you want me to lend her to you? Is this another joke?” Another set of laughter filled the room as her master asked. _

_ That was him. Arthas Menethil. She scarcely remembered his look, but his voice was clear and she remembered it the most. Even if her memory was torn apart from her being and her soul was flayed apart, she recognized the voice of her murderer. _

_ “Give her vision back, your majesty, and she will serve well. You know this as much as I am.” _

_ That voice. Although echoed like hers, it was unmistakable which voice it belonged to. She thought she would never hear of it again. It was the voice of someone she cared a lot. Of someone she went to when she was distraught. Of someone she adored and looked up to so much. Her eldest sister, Alleria. _

_ Her presence gave her a small resemblance of peace. But alas, what did she just suggest? That she would serve him in other ways than this? _

_ She understood her sister. Maybe she had enough seeing her like this. If she was to suffer this torment, maybe she wanted to do it at least side by side. Or at the very least with more dignity than being like this. _

_ From how her sister argued, it seemed that she was about to be turned into another weapon forged to serve him. How she was turned to another being who served the Scourge. Another puppet to him. _

_ But if she was truly but a puppet, how can she even talk like that to him? Was Alleria like her? Given a semblance of free will just for Arthas to toy around? _

_ “Your majesty, if I may?” _

_ Another voice. It was someone else. His voice was ethereal. She can hear no steps when he was around. Her fumbled memories remembered faintly of that voice before her death. Before her vision was taken away from her. A servant to him. A loyal one. _

_ He whispered something to Arthas. Something so faint that Vereesa couldn’t hear him. The grip on her arm loosened as she felt a soft rub, as if it tried to reassure her, that everything will be better. For her. For once. In this cursed existence she was suffering through and through. _

_ “Do this then, fallen hero,” Vereesa could clearly hear the grin as he spoke, “There is a report of some elven rangers moving near the border of Plaguelands. Kill them all, and I will let you have the honor of restoring the sight of your dearest sister yourself. Pluck their eyes from their corpse then give it to her. If you succeed, I’ll let her serve me as one of your rangers.” _

_ The grip on her arms grew tighter. She knew that Alleria would instantly refuse such an offer. To kill her own brethren. She would kill him just by suggesting such a horrendous act. She can hear the gritting of teeth from beside her.  _

_ She could hear the heavy reluctance in her sister’s voice as she said, “As you wish, your majesty.” _

_ She was pulled standing once again as she and her sister were dismissed. She felt a cold embrace for a moment and a single kiss on her forehead. Something which Alleria used to do for her when something caused her unease. _

_ “I will restore your sight, sister. Please, wait for me.” Her lips stayed closed as she uttered her promise. _

_ “At the cost of their lives? Alleria, he may not even live up to his word!” Vereesa searched and gripped for her arm tightly. _

_ “If there’s anything he wanted more than our suffering, it was more weapons for him.” Alleria whispered as she stroked Vereesa’s cheek with her knuckle. _

_ Vereesa gripped that hand tight, “You would resign me to such fate? To turn me into one of his weapons? To kill our own brethren we swore to protect in life?!” _

_ She knew Alleria froze to her exclamation. She could feel her hand grow rigid. But then, she could feel the reluctance and the anguish her sister’s felt. _

_ “Then would you resign to this fate sister? To be a source of his entertainment for the rest of this cursed existence?! With your sight restored, one day we could fight against him!” Alleria said angrily at her. _

_ Vereesa gritted her teeth. She nearly wanted to scoff at the insinuation that they can even be freed from this torment. Alleria left her with a huff of frustration. She knew her sister wanted the best for her, but the path she must take was a terrifying one. No soon after Alleria left, she was called to return to the room once more. _

_ The room soon fell empty. She knew it, because there was no sound left. The last other person in the room shoved to her a broom, and whoever did so, left her alone in this chamber as the door shut. She wanted to throw it away. To shove them to someone else.  _

_ She knew who she was. She was a warrior. A ranger. She was no mere servant to clean up a room after a feast was over. She was proud of being one of the Farstriders. Of being a Windrunner. _

_ But alas, what can she do now? _

_ Without her sight, she was useless. No arrows will fly true from her bow. No enemies will treat her seriously. No blade will strike her enemies as well. And this invisible string that forced her to do what the Lich King wanted. She was but a mere puppet to him. A plaything, to her murderer. _

_ And so she despaired. The fate that she succumbed to. Slowly, she resigned to it. There was no point in fighting it anymore. Even if her sister retrieved those eyes, he won’t live up to his word. Vereesa was sure of it. _

_ In her pondering and self-loathing, Vereesa stumbled once more. She should’ve known better but to focus on her surroundings. But instead of falling down, ghostly arms pulled her back up. She almost flinched. Who was that? Her ears swiveled around the room, trying to trace who was that just now.  _

_ “Who are you?” _

_ Silence was her only answer. Her hand reached out to where the arms were just now. She was not imagining things. It also lacked the cruelty of Arthas’ torture. _

_ “Please, answer me.” Vereesa said as she held her hands above her chest. The broom fell off from her hand almost immediately. _

_ She could feel the dark energy within herself flowed slightly within her as she tried to reach out once again. She kept walking, trying to trace the very faint energy that touched her previously. _

_ In her desperate attempt to chase the source, she stumbled once more. But before she fell, a pair of ghostly arms pulled her back again standing. She reached out to it this time and held strongly to it. She wanted an answer to who this was. She wanted to ask why this presence helped her. _

_ Only to find herself in silence as the presence embraced her in a way that Vereesa recognized. _

_ It was comforting. The first comfort she ever felt in months of her suffering. It was cold. Her body felt nothing else but cold. But it was different. It felt like a hug that she felt when she was young. A feeling she wasn’t foreign to. There can only be one who can ever make her feel that way. _

_ Sylvanas. _

_ For the first time since her death, she smiled. Sylvanas was here. Despite her ghostly form, she knew it was Lady Moon. There was no mistaking it. _

_ “I missed you, Lady Moon.” _

_ Vereesa wanted to cry. She knew of Alleria’s fate shortly after she was raised. Arthas refused to tell her anything about Sylvanas. He only laughed at her as she asked and told her that she had no right to ask about her second sister. _

_ “And I you, Little Moon.” _

_ Her voice echoed within the room, but she didn’t care. Lady Moon was here when she thought she had lost her forever. It may sound selfish, but knowing that Sylvanas was here gave her an assurance she never thought she would ever receive. _

_ “Lady Sun only wanted the best for you. For us.” _

_ Vereesa felt a gentle stroke of her hair. She wanted to cry as her sister held her closely. _

_ “Can I really accept such sacrifice, sister? She would kill our own to restore me.” _

_ Slowly, the embrace was let go. Vereesa wanted to pull back but the ghostly arms kept her at arm’s length. _

_ “A necessary sacrifice for an unforeseen future, Vereesa. Stay strong, my Little Moon.” _

_ Vereesa could feel a hand caressed her cheek. She leaned to it so desperately. A small amount of comfort that her sister brought just with her existence. _

_ “I cannot stay with you for too long.”  _

_ The dark energy slowly faded away. She tried to reach it again, desperately, only to find her hand holding at nothing. _

_ “But know this little sister,” _

_ Then, she felt something on her forehead. A chaste kiss. Gone almost as soon as it touched her. _

_ “I’ll be watching you. Never despair.” _

_ She could feel the energy vanished almost immediately as her sister uttered her last word. She fell down once more. There was nothing that brought her up this time. She wept as her hands touched the cold stone of the castle ground. _

_ All of them died as they failed to protect Silvermoon. Each of them sacrificed everything they have in order to fight against the endless Scourge that lay waste to their sacred kingdom. Her memories were skewered as she was raised as a shell of her former self, only remembering a few parts of it, slowly recovering it piece by piece as time passed. _

_ She remembered her sisters. How they loved her as she loved them back. _

_ She remembered her failures. How she failed to protect the Second Elfgate, betrayal from within as she stood against the never-ending march of the damned. _

_ She remembered Rhonin. How her fiancée was acknowledged by her family and understood how much he meant for her. How he was waiting for her in Dalaran for their marriage. _

_ But everything was taken from her. Her sisters. Her sight. Her people. Everything. Because she stood against Arthas. Because she wanted to avenge Alleria. Because Sylvanas trusted her to hold on the gate. _

_ Was there anything left to fight for? Was there anything left worth fighting for? This cursed fate was endless. There was no hope left for her. There was no point in fighting anymore. _

_ ‘Never despair.’ _

_ The last word Sylvanas gave her resounded within her. Slowly, she stood up. Her hands clenched to a fist at her sides. _

_ ‘No.’ She spoke to herself as she gritted her teeth. _

_ She will not give in. Not to this curse. Not to this torment that was pushed to her. She will fight on as she once lived. Fight on and be defiant in the face of despair. And just like her sisters believed, their time will come. Their time of freedom and vengeance. _

_ One day, Arthas will pay. For everything he took away from her. _

_ Everything. _


	7. Reluctant Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaina received another task, Sylvanas and Alleria talked a little bit, and Vereesa decided to make a visit.

A week has passed ever since Jaina talked with Sylvanas in her office that day. After they had finished discussing the possibility of trading between Theramore and Undercity, Sylvanas took her time to introduce her towards her people. To let them know that she’s here to help them. The Dark Lady’s words seemed to make them believe her. It eased much of their concerns with that simple gesture.

The progress wasn’t easy, even after Sylvanas herself had introduced her to them but it was a progress nonetheless. They would start to talk with her in Common, and at times, she would learn their language, Gutterspeak, as Valeera had taught to her. The Forsaken were still people, despite what happened to them.

Jaina would take her time to talk and get acquainted with the Forsaken every once in a while. It all began with discussing whatever that Theramore can provide. Then afterwards, slowly turning to idle talks.

Valeera slowly opened up to her as well, alongside Anya who claimed to have the Dark Lady permission. Jaina learnt the true story of the Forsaken after they had been freed from the Lich King. The three sisters lead them against the dreadlords that took over the capital as soon as Arthas fled. Alongside Garithos, they lay claim to the capital. However, at the last moment, Garithos revealed his true intention of never intending to let the Forsaken take shelter within their own home. Another battle erupted once more for the capital where the Forsaken won and the humans lay scattered.

Who can blame them however? The people she had talked to, all of them claimed that Garithos and his men treated them badly when they worked together. Thinking of them as nothing more than a monster. Some even were shot ‘accidentally’ during the heat of battle. The Queens didn’t take lightly to the actions of those people.

Though Jaina planned to talk with one of the shopkeepers within Undercity today, to know what they would like to trade, Jaina instead received a summon to Stormwind. Jaina knew not of the urgency, but there must be something that came up.

Sylvanas wasn’t around. Yesterday, Valeera told her that she had moved out with Bolvar’s forces, alongside her squadron of Dark Rangers. The Dark Lady went to Naxxramas to observe and lend her words for the invasion. Vereesa was nowhere to be found. It was as if the youngest sister avoided her ever since their last talk. And Alleria… well, if Jaina didn’t know any better, she would most likely shoot her if she ever tried to approach the eldest sister.

As Jaina arrived in the keep alongside Valeera, the guards to the throne room made way for her to come inside. Varian sat on his throne with Shaw on his side.

“Jaina, how do you fare?” Varian started.

Jaina set a tired gaze to the king, somewhat exhausted with the same questions she got every time she met someone else as of lately, “I’m well Varian. They treat me well, if you wondered like everyone else. Is there something urgent about your summon?”

Shaw, who stood beside him, stepped upfront, “There is something we must discuss, but before that.”

Shaw’s eyes darted to Valeera for a moment. The rogue knew what he meant as she bowed and left the room shortly when Jaina nodded at her. She could see a glint in Valeera’s eyes before she made herself scarce.

_I’m willing to bet that Valeera would still be around..._

“Lady Jaina, how much do you know of what happened to the elves after the destruction of Quel’Thalas?” Shaw started as the door closed, leaving only the three of them in the throne room.

She remembered that Kael’thas accused her of working with Arthas in the destruction of their kingdom shortly before she left to Kalimdor. Afterwards, only rumors existed about their whereabouts. If anyone knew of that any better, it would be the sisters.

“I heard only a few words but otherwise unproven news of them. No one had moved towards Quel’Thalas ever since what befall them.” Jaina answered plainly.

Shaw looked at Varian for a moment, looking for approval. Varian only nodded at him.

“It has come to our knowledge that the Forsaken’s agents moved there recently after their assault towards the Scarlet Crusade. Lady Sylvanas is still apprehensive in sharing any information with us. We had no choice but to tail their agents in that regard.” Shaw explained plainly.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Shaw had spread out his SI:7 but something within her dread of what Sylvanas would think if she knew her agents were followed by the Alliance.

“It seems that as soon as they found the location of the elves, they had returned to the Undercity without making any contact with them.”

“Is there any point we are leading here with this information?” Jaina inquired, somewhat impatient in where this conversation will lead.

“Before the tragedy that befell Quel’Thalas, the elves were still a part of the Alliance. Of Lady Alleria’s insistence. Despite… how she viewed the Alliance now.” Varian continued for Shaw.

“Garithos’ decision to imprison and hunt them down because they accepted aid with the Naga was a black mark in our history. It has come to my knowledge that he took over the forces that were supposed to help them fight the Scourge in the first place. The elves were not wrong to accept those aids in desperation.”

“And such, we would like to amend such action and lend out an aid to the elves of Quel’Thalas once more. I assumed the Forsaken would like to do the same since the Queens were once the protectors to the elves themselves. I don’t think it was farfetched to say that they will plan a visit there any moment soon after Naxxramas fell.” Shaw finished for Varian.

Jaina hummed as she fell into silence. How would she try to explain to the Queens about this? If what Shaw and Varian told her was true, then without a doubt that Sylvanas will visit there when she returns from Naxxramas. In a short amount of time she had spent with her, Jaina knew that Sylvanas was a bit sentimental. Her office was largely decorated with elvish furniture. She kept herself a wine that was from Quel’Thalas as well. Her armor, although altered, still kept the touches which elves would’ve worn.

“In short, we’d like for you to talk with the elves to re-establish our relationship with them once more. If possible, we hoped for the Forsaken who once were led by them to represent the Alliance as well.”

-o-

_Finally, it’s over._

The assault on Naxxramas was a success. Sylvanas had to give it to Bolvar and his forces, as well as the champions that managed to fell the Archlich himself. Many of its inhabitants were tenacious. Especially that Frost Wyrm, who was once the servant of the Blue Aspect. The Argent Dawn also lent much assistance in the assault as well. Though Sylvanas was skeptical to accept their aid, she couldn’t deny that it was needed. 

Sylvanas held out the urge to smirk. It went as planned. She didn’t even as much spend an arrow and let the living do the works for her. What she said back then wasn’t wrong. The Scourge will need to be dealt with, whether they care about the Forsaken or not. And with this, the Scourge’s presence should be weakened.

As she entered the Archlich’s chamber alongside her rangers, all eyes were upon her as she stepped towards the phylactery.

Urn of King Terenas.

Vile magic was swirling deeply within it. There’s no mistake, this urn was his phylactery. How classical of that lich, to choose the very thing that once contained his remains and corrupted the Sunwell as his lifeline.

As she reached out to the phylactery, it was then that she heard whispers amongst her allies.

_“Is it really a good idea to let her and the undead claim it?”_

_“What if it’s a ruse to secure the lich for herself?”_

_“We should be the one to secure it! She couldn’t be trusted.”_

Before the situation erupted even worse, she was surprised Bolvar stepped up in front of them.

“Enough! This is what was agreed for. The Forsaken has no love towards the Scourge, that much was clear. Stop with these conspiracy theories. They are our ally, and all of you would do well to remember that they died protecting their homeland and suffered because of it!” Bolvar scolded his men.

Bolvar turned around and took a glance at Sylvanas. She nodded once before making way towards her mage.

“We shall return to Undercity at once, if there’s nothing else to discuss.” Sylvanas said to Bolvar as she held the urn on her left hand. Her rangers followed her closely.

As much as Sylvanas appreciated Bolvar’s sentiment, it was clear that Bolvar didn’t trust her as much as Proudmoore had. Their interactions were mostly regarding the assault on the necropolis and its vicinity. There was no time to even build any partnership with the Paladin. Not that Sylvanas wanted to be anywhere nearby a Paladin in the first place. Their very presence stung her.

He nodded at her. He had previously talked with her about assaulting another place the Scourge took over but Sylvanas dismissed the concern as to concentrate at the necropolis first. 

_Perhaps a few words of advice should be given before I return._

“I would advise to refrain from attacking Scholomance, Andorhal, and Stratholme for now. We need to chip down the Scourge there over time before actually attacking there. The Scourge still ran rampant within the Plaguelands after all.” Sylvanas continued as a mage she had brought with her weaved the portal to Undercity.

“We shall discuss it once more when the time comes, Lady Windrunner.” Bolvar said as he bowed.

Sylvanas nodded slightly in return, “Farewell, Lord Fordragon. The Alliance’s assistance will be remembered by my people.” 

Sylvanas turned and entered the portal. As she arrived back at the Royal Quarter, Areiel and a number of banshees were waiting for her. They were here to seal the Archlich power. To deny him of his magic and turning him nothing more than a prisoner. Alleria would be delighted to execute him herself when he no longer had any purpose.

“Areiel, set the urn at the sealing chamber. It would take a while before Kel’Thuzad could form himself. In the meantime, I have other things to do. Make sure no one else but me and my sisters, alongside the banshees, enter the chamber.” Sylvanas said as she passed the urn to her ranger. Areiel took the urn carefully and departed with the banshees. Sylvanas made her way back to her office to settle on to the next thing she had set out to work on.

Quel’Thalas.

The quick report has arrived before Sylvanas departed towards Naxxramas. Her former people strived in the face of genocide. They were slowly rebuilding themselves. The full report will be made soon enough when both Alina and Belmont returned. Which they should be by now.

She felt a semblance of pride. That even after everything that happened, her former people still lived on. But then as well, a painful guilt festered her as well. She, alongside the others, had the blood of the elves on their hands when they served under the Scourge. They were sent to hunt them down. Their former Ranger-General, used like a dog, to kill those she once protected.

Forced to obey such cruel orders. She had no choice but to comply. Not only that, she knew many of the Forsaken who followed her footsteps alongside her sisters, died by her own hands. Yet they understood. They understood better than the living which shunned them.

Sylvanas’ line of thought was forced to stop as she saw Vorel waiting in front of her office. The young ranger was assigned as Alleria’s second-in-command. That can only mean one thing as Sylvanas approached.

“My Lady,” Vorel said as she bowed, “Valeera escorted Lady Proudmoore several hours ago to Stormwind. It seems the Lady of Theramore was summoned to Stormwind in an urgent manner.” The ranger spoke before Sylvanas could enter her office.

Sylvanas didn’t need to wait for her report to know what would be discussed by the mage and the High King. It was obvious of what’s to come, especially with both Alina and Belmont being trailed by SI:7 agents.

Sylvanas nodded at Vorel as the ranger made way. As she entered her office, it was quite a sight to see Alleria was pacing around the room like a caged lynx while holding a scroll that looked like a report from her rangers.

It should be Alina’s full report regarding her discovery, Sylvanas assumed. She had noted to Alina to inform both Alleria and Vereesa at once when the full report was made. Each of them was busy with their own tasks at the moment, so it was unfortunate that Sylvanas cannot give them the news herself.

Alleria was upset, that much was clear from how her eyes narrowed and her ears pinned back to her skull.

“Something troubling you, Alleria?” Sylvanas said as she set her cloak on her armor stand.

Her sister’s gaze snapped at her almost immediately. It was somewhat interesting that her sister didn’t register her presence until she talked. 

“It seems your rangers already found our people, sister.” The scroll was tossed at Sylvanas, which she caught easily. She leaned on her desk as she unfurled the scroll, reading its content.

Sin’dorei, Children of the Blood. Alina wrote that they have renamed themselves as such as a remembrance to the slaughter that happened to them. The tragedy that befell their kingdom. It was Kael’thas himself that chose such a decision.

The elves had taken back Silvermoon once more from the Scourge. None other than Lor’themar himself that led the charge and took over the city. Both Alina and Belmont had stayed true to her order and avoided making contact with them. It seemed that they were pursued by the last of the Farstriders before they managed to escape. She couldn’t have her people hunted down under the wrong assumption, which was why she had ordered a retreat as soon as they were spotted.

They had established a strong front and continued to repel the Scourge afterwards. There was a word that a sum of them stayed within the Outlands, following Kael’thas and his new master, who Alina yet to discover. Sylvanas was curious however. Kael’thas was not the kind of person to follow anyone so easily. His pride always stopped him short.

Much as she despised him for his naivety and his bratty attitude, he was the last line of the Sunstrider family. The one who led and found Quel’Thalas. And he was a leader of the elves nonetheless. Maybe he changed for the better after everything that he had done? She would know it when they meet one day.

“And why do you look distressed, sister?” All of these were good news. They would establish contact soon with them as well. To aid them in any way they could and ask assistance in return. Against the Scourge.

“I have doubts that they will accept us, Sylvanas. Remember who we are right now. Remember our encounters with the living.” Alleria stated simply as she crossed her arms. It lacked her usual bite but Sylvanas can sense much anxiousness within her sister.

Though previously she accepted the idea without hesitation, Sylvanas understood her sister’s sudden concern.

“If you aren’t sure, I can visit there first with Vereesa to confirm how they thought about us. When we confirm their stance towards us, we can portal you in afterwards. Or we will retreat immediately.”

Alleria fell to further silence as she stopped pacing. Sylvanas frowned seeing the distraught look on her sister’s face. Alleria has always been the symbol of strength. To her, to Vereesa, and now to the Forsaken. Her perseverance was not easily quenched and she rarely stuttered. Seeing her sister like this was concerning.

Her eyes were set to Sylvanas’ for a moment.

“Is she..?” There was a rare sight of softness in her eyes. Those blazing eyes that held a neverending anger changed for a moment. And that was something that Sylvanas intended to seize immediately.

_She… That can only mean one person._

Maybe the last string of Alleria’s hope to reconcile with the living. 

It was like a lifetime ago. Her sister held on to the belief that all of them could work together and stood as one under the Alliance banner. Now, that hopeful belief was shattered by that cursed prince with continuous torment he inflicted upon her after she was raised. It was his sick mind games that turned her sister’s hatred towards the living and everything else.

Even after she was freed from that chain that torments her, the scar was still there. Hurting her, and acting as a reminder of such hatred.

“Valeera confirmed she survived, before Valeera… joined us.” Sylvanas stated with much hesitation.

Valeera’s death will forever stain her hand. Argue as much as she could, it was still undeniable that she was the one who pulled the arrow to her heart. Guilt had been eating her every time she had seen Little Shadow. It was excruciating, despite the last words she had given to her before she breathed her final one and raised shortly afterwards.

Alleria closed her eyes. Another stretch of silence passed before she huffed and that hardened look on her face returned. Sylvanas can only sigh as her sister clenched her jaw, knowing where this will lead once more.

“I’ll stay and look after Undercity. Both of you should go ahead and talk with them.” Alleria stated, her words were void of emotion, as she left Sylvanas’ office.

Sylvanas sighed as she sat down. She wouldn’t blame her of course.

The atrocities that Alleria had done. Those acts she did without so much as to feel even remorse. It was both for her and Vereesa’s sake. For her sisters.

It wasn’t long before she could hear Vereesa within her thought.

_‘Sylvanas? Have you read the report?’_

_‘I have, Little Moon. But I’m afraid it must wait for tomorrow. Lady Sun is… unsettled.”_

Sylvanas could sense the concern of her little sister growing almost immediately.

_‘Did something happen?’_

_‘I will tell you about it tomorrow.’_

It came out a bit harsh than she wanted to. Sylvanas sighed. It felt tiring.

_‘I’m sorry Little Moon. I was a little upset as well. We will talk again soon. I promise.’_

-o-

As her sister answered, she decided to let the matter rest for now. What upsets them both, Vereesa wondered? But she had told her that they will talk about this tomorrow. So there’s no point in thinking too much about it.

She set her gaze towards the Forsaken who just left the Royal Quarter after she briefed them of what they should do next. She felt a semblance of pride watching them finding their own path. That they refused to succumb to this torment.

The latest batch of Forsaken which joined their ranks was promising. Some of them even have great potential to be the champion of her people. Undeath barely changed their capabilities and that was something that Vereesa was impressed about.

Vereesa was proud that some managed to go through it. Their reasons may vary, but what was important was that they have joined them.

Some who were freed from the Scourge control wished to have a peaceful life. Some even remain hateful towards them. They refused their fate and tried to cling back to their past. Some even broke, incapable of accepting reality and flung themselves into their final death.

The sooner they come to terms with the present, the better they have a grip with reality. The dead won’t have a place amongst the living, and so did the other way. That much she was certain, like Alleria believed.

But a certain anomaly just refused to remove itself.

Namely that human mage her sisters took hostage of.

Something within her shift after the mage admitted that she was remorseful of what had happened that day. Something akin to a candle being lit within the darkness that she had embraced a long while ago. A small spark… of hope? 

Vereesa shook her head.

_Ridiculous._

She did avoid meeting the mage afterwards. She reminded her too much of Rhonin. That hopeful look. That softened eyes that were filled with empathy rather than pity. It was too much.

It was… dreading. It was unusual. To see a living who would do more than just tolerate the dead. To not keep them at arm’s length. But to show compassion towards them. It was almost nauseating.

Was it all just an act to garner the Forsaken towards the Alliance? Or was it done with honest intentions?

She heard of the mage’s doings from her people she just addressed. How she was eager to help them setting up trades. How she was insistent that their wares were not junks and held a sum of coins. How she was always the one to strike up a conversation where almost everyone was wary of her.

True, that her sister had helped her start the conversation between the mage and the Forsaken, but she believed it was all just an act by the mage. That she only pretended to do this for the sake of the Alliance. The people that abandoned them in the first place.

As she had finished addressing her subjects within the Royal Quarter, she returned to her private chamber. Sleep and the need to rest eluded her very being. But still, it felt nice every once in a while to be able to lie on the bed. It was such a long time ago that she felt weariness, and that was during their campaign against the dreadlords.

Oh, the satisfaction of putting the arrow between Varimathras’ eyes was still her most triumphant moment so far in this accursed state of hers. She grinned widely as she sat up.

Once, twice, she blinked as she recalled those moments.

That shot she made, it would never happen without her. Because of these eyes.

_I suppose it’s time to visit her again. It’s been a while._

Vereesa stood up and started gathering what she needed for her. A bottle of wine she was given by her sister, some wine glasses, and candles. That should be enough, right?

As she made her way out, it was unexpected to see the mage just arrived. She had presumed she would stay in Stormwind at such an hour. It was nearly dusk after all.

Though she had full intention to avoid her once more, she supposed it’s time to deal with this mage now and then. It wouldn’t do well if her people knew that she avoided the living as if she feared them.

“Lady Proudmoore, a busy day in Stormwind?” Vereesa started.

The mage looked both exasperated and tired, but a little bit surprised with her. Humans were usually hard to read, but it was clear this time.

“Quite so, Lady Vereesa.” The mage’s eyes fell to the basket she carried, “Going out on such a night?”

Mages were always like this. Too curious for their own good. Valeera told her that the mage intended to learn about her and her sisters. She supposed she could entertain the mage, just to see how much the word she had said held true or not.

“Yes. I’d like to visit someone. Care to join me? I understood if you are too tired of course. The living needs their rest after all.” Vereesa quipped.

The mage widened her eyes for a moment and responded way too quickly for Vereesa’s taste, “I’m alright. Please, lead the way.”

_I suppose her sense of curiosity exceeded her fatigue._

Vereesa made her way towards the surface in equal silence. The mage didn’t prod her about anything either. She noticed the absence of Anya and Valeera, but both of them most likely were reporting to Sylvanas by now.

As they reached the surface, the guards saluted her.

“Tell the horsemaster to ready my horse and one for our guest. One of which is fond of the living.” Vereesa ordered simply as she sneaked a glance to the mage who was surprised. The guard bowed and immediately left.

“It isn’t far, but traveling by foot will take a while.” Vereesa answered before the mage could ask.

Before long, the stablemaster brought out two horses. Silverthorn was hers when she first raised it from the dirt of Lordaeron. It obeyed her ever since then when she was forced to serve him. The other one, she knew not the name but that was for the mage. She couldn’t care less about it as long as it didn’t hurt the mage. Belore knew what trouble will that bring if that happened.

As she mounted her own, she could see the mage was hesitant of the skeletal steed. The stablemaster however lent her aid.

“Don’t worry, it is as requested. Vessel is the only one that was fond of the living.” He said as he pulled the reins down. Vessel lowered itself so the mage could mount it easily.

Vereesa only looked forward when the mage settled by on her horse and galloped away. She didn’t need to wait for the mage to follow her.

It was before long that she arrived at the Silverpine Forest. She noticed the mage used a magelight to brighten her surroundings. She would like to chastise her for doing so will attract beasts lurking within the forest but then again, the mage was but a human who can’t see well in the dark.

She dismounted from her horse and Proudmoore followed suit immediately. Vereesa trudged through the unmarked path that led to the place where they waited.

Upon arrival at the place they waited, Proudmoore gasped.

The place was untouched by the Scourge’s corruption. Life was still abundant at this side of the forest. Moonlight shone from above and highlighted the place in equal beauty. There were bows and arrows planted everywhere around the vicinity. Swords stabbed on the ground as a mark.

And in the middle of it, a stack of stones was settled with flowers scattered around it.

A graveyard, for those who fell because of her. Especially to the one whose eyes now settled on hers. 

Vereesa settled the gifts she brought to them. It was a pointless gesture of course. The dead don’t need it. However, Vereesa felt wrong if she didn’t do this for them occasionally.

She requested this small graveyard a few days after she and her sisters reclaimed the capital city. She still remembered Alleria averting her eyes and Sylvanas encouraging words to do so when she asked of it. Sylvanas sent away her rangers to collect whatever was remaining and brought them to this place and buried them here.

Firstly, she knelt down as she set out the candles she brought out and lit them up. Wine glasses placed in front of the stones. As she took out the bottle of wine, the mage broke the silence, murmuring so quietly as if she was afraid of disturbing the solemn quietness.

“Who… was this?”

Vereesa had the full intention to ignore the mage for a while. At the very least until she finished pouring the wine to the glasses. As she settled the bottle away and picked one of the glasses for herself. She sat down and took a sip, and only then she finally responded.

“I don’t know.”

She truly did not know. She only knew that Alleria swiftly killed these rangers and plucked the eyes from one of them. While she loathes the idea of it, she knew well that she had to. As Sylvanas and Alleria had said to her once, for she could fight on one day.

It was a mercy that Arthas didn’t ask of their remains. Maybe he forgot about it, maybe he thought Alleria burned their body afterwards. But the important thing was that they were not raised. They were given their rest.

She knew not which these rangers were once served under who. Only knowing that they died so she could see.

“You… don’t?”

There was a slight ire reeling within her when the mage asked again. But she swallowed it down. It was not right. It was but an honest question after all.

“All I know is, that because of her, I can see again.” Vereesa spoke quietly.

Proudmoore sat beside her as she looked upon the grave. For once, Vereesa felt serene in many of her visits here. Maybe because now the Forsaken had an ally they can lean to. Maybe because finally they found out about the fate of the elves which she would visit soon. Regardless, it was the first time she visited here not to grieve.

The mage beside her lay silent as she closed her eyes. Vereesa offered her one of the wine glasses but she kept it still on her hands. Refraining from drinking it.

It was only for a while before Vereesa broke the silence.

“I heard what you asked of Valeera. That you wanted to know about us.” Vereesa sneaked a glance at the mage for a moment.

Proudmoore's only response was a slight nod as she fixed her gaze towards her. Vereesa took a sip.

“It wasn’t a pretty tale or so. Would you still like to hear the atrocities he did to me?” This time Vereesa's eyes fell to her.

The mage lowered her head for a moment. Vereesa can practically hear her mind grinding as she saw the pondering look of the mage. Only a moment later did she snap up and looked at her.

“Yes.”

Vereesa lied silent for a while. Was it really a good idea to tell the mage about him? She’d rather not to relive those painful memories. But then again, she intended to test her. To see if she lived up to her words back then.

“Before I died, he took both of my eyes as I glared at him. Defiant till my very end. He told me to say my farewell to my sisters before he ran his blade through my stomach.” She said simply as she took another sip.

“I was raised and turned to one of his’ banshees. He gave each of us a small amount of free will so that we could understand what we were doing. To move. To be conscious. To try to defy. A small amount of freedom to act, yet still bound by his will when he wanted us to. He forced me to return to my body and made me his servant after he’s finished with Quel’Thalas.” She chuckled darkly, “Imagine it, a blind servant just so he could laugh whenever I stumble.”

The mage looked down as she clenched her hand to a fist. Was she ashamed perhaps, of what her former lover did?

“One day, Alleria, who was raised just like me, had enough seeing me so miserable like that. Arthas tasked her to kill rangers that scouted the borders of Lordaeron. He allowed her to pluck the eyes of those rangers to give to me. I could see again but their life was the price.” Vereesa said as she caressed the scar softly.

The silence stretched on for a while. She could hear crickets in the forest around her as moonlight shone over the grave, showing its form beautifully.

“I served as one of his dark rangers. Each day we served, we were given heinous tasks. Should we fail even at the smallest detail; Sylvanas will be the one to pay the price.” Vereesa said as she clenched her jaw.

“What was it?” Jaina inquired.

She nearly let her tongue slip and answered. No. If she wanted to know, only Sylvanas had that right to tell it to her. No one else.

“All you need to know was that it was cruelty beyond reason. I shall not speak of what Sylvanas’ suffered unless she wills it herself.” Vereesa said as her crimson eyes blazed.

Vereesa sipped the wine again silently. She sighed heavily as she looked towards the darkened sky. Those sufferings felt like eternity. And now? It was but a bliss to be released from that torment, no matter how she was right now.

“It was only until we had killed hundreds of innocents that he was willing to give Sylvanas’ body back, and like me, forced to serve him with her bows and arrows. Her hands were stained as well, with Valeera’s death as its peak.”

The mage looked down at the glass of wine she gave her previously. Maybe she didn’t drink it yet out of formality but she knew well enough that the mage was really tempted to drink so.

It used to be her favorite. She remembered how she would get drunk and pestered both of her sisters all night when they returned from their patrols. She would always wake up to see Alleria chiding her and Sylvanas just snickered around the corner as she secured the remaining wine for herself.

Now? It tasted almost nothing.

“And then the opportunity came. The Lich King’s control over us wavered and we regained our free will. My freedom however was short-lived as the Dreadlords ambushed me and put me to a slumber. They used me as a bargaining chip so that my sisters will serve them as they instructed them to ambush Arthas which sadly failed.” 

Vereesa grinned, “It didn’t take long however before both of them had enough of the Dreadlords and rescued me. Afterwards, I’m sure you know about the tale about our insurrections.”

Proudmoore nodded in affirmations. She knew that much at least that both Valeera and Anya told them about what happened after their insurrection against the Dreadlords. Of the civil war within Lordaeron.

The candles flickered for a moment. A soft wind swayed over them slightly as it brought withered leaves, scattered across the ground and some landed on the stones. A leaf fell onto the glass which was filled with the wine that Vereesa poured previously.

A long silence stretched on as both women lie silent, watching the grave with a somber look on their face. Vereesa wondered however. Of the person she was close to. Her fiance.

Vereesa broke the silence first after another leaf fell onto another glass, her resolve was made for now, “How is… he, Proudmoore?”

The mage’s eyes were filled with sadness for a moment as she averted her eyes, “He... is mourning. He still does to this day.”

Something ached within her as she heard of him. Vereesa clenched her jaw, trying to swallow down the tremor that was about to come to her. Vereesa pushed on however.

“Don’t tell him of my fate.”

Proudmoore immediately turned to look at her.

“Why?”

A simple question, but the answer was just hard to be said.

“I’m nothing like I used to be, Proudmoore. No longer the woman I was. I’m but a monster now.”

“But you’re not! I’ve seen you freed those people from the Scourge grasp. Underneath that body of yours, you are still you!”

Vereesa turned a tired gaze at her.

_How naive is this human?_

“Tell me then, is Arthas still the same? Do you still love him after everything he has done?”

She could tell that the mage nearly bit her tongue before she answered.

“He’s different. He made his choice to slaughter everyone in his path. He’s no longer the person I used to love.”

Vereesa scoffed as she took another sip.

“Choice. You said he made his choice to take that accursed runeblade. You said he made his choice to slaughter the people of Lordaeron and Quel’Thalas. What’s the difference then with me?”

“You are not the same! You’re not given any-”

“I could choose to reject these eyes and these rangers don’t need to die. I could choose to reject killing all those innocents and let my sister suffer another eternity of torment. He gave us a choice, and I took it Proudmoore. How am I any less monster than he is?”

The mage stuttered for a moment, but there was still a defiant look in her eyes.

“It was still different, Lady Vereesa.”

“Does it matter?” She asked curtly as she raised her hand over her face, clenching it. “This hand still holds the blood of all those people I killed. The blood of innocents.”

_Their blood is still in my hand, no matter how people want to say it._

Vereesa stood up from the spot as she put out the candles and poured the wines to the ground.

_For all of you. May you find peace now, and I hope for forgiveness. Forgive us all for failing you. For breaking our oath to keep you safe. Forgive me for all the bloods I spilled for the sake of moving forward._

_I shall avenge all of you._

From the corner of her eyes, she could see her companion finally took a sip and laid down the wine glass. She closed her eyes, maybe uttering a prayer as well to whoever she worshiped.

Still, she worried about one thing about the mage.

“Proudmoore.”

The mage opened her eyes and turned her curious gaze upon Vereesa.

“Swear this to me, that you will not say a thing about my existence towards him. Swear to me of this, and earn my trust.” Vereesa said quietly yet sternly.

The mage raised her eyebrow, “He’ll find out sooner or later, Lady Vereesa.”

Vereesa’s gaze burned at the insinuation, “You sounded so sure. Am I to assume you’ve told him about me?”

The mage met her gaze head on, “We are all leaders. He led Dalaran which was being rebuilt. You led the Forsaken alongside your sisters. Our fates in this world will intertwine one day.”

A small pang sounded within her. What was it? To know that he led the city of Dalaran rather than stumbling somewhere within this cursed land. She couldn’t understand it, but whatever it was, it was a good thing for him.

“Then let it be later. Let him remember me for who I was than I am now.” Vereesa said as she offered her hand.

_Let him remember me as the one who died protecting her kingdom, rather than the monster I am now._

The mage eyed her hands for a long while. It was clear that she was struggling to find a decision. She must choose either to lie to her friend about her existence and gain her trust, as well as moving the Forsaken one step closer towards the Alliance, or to be truthful to him and risking Vereesa's wrath against the mage.

And Vereesa did say so truthfully. Underneath that skepticism she held on against the living, she wanted to trust them again like she once did. Even if it sounded ridiculous, she wanted it so. Be it for her, or her sisters, or for the Forsaken.

With great reluctance, the mage reached out to her hand and shook it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a while for this one to get updated. Hopefully everyone enjoyed it!


	8. The Sun and The Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaina got annoyed with the sisters, and Alleria met someone unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite a while, isn't it?

“No.”

“Sylvanas, please just listen-“

“I know what you’re going to ask, and nothing will change my mind. My answer will remain no.”

Jaina glared over her shoulder only to see Valeera smirking and offered an unapologetic shrug.

_ These blasted elves … _

Jaina had been following Sylvanas all the way from her room ever since she saw the Banshee Queen left her personal quarter. The woman had repeatedly said ‘No’ before Jaina even uttered a single word. Along the way many Forsaken bowed to their Queen as they passed but also taking curious glances as Jaina kept on her heels behind Sylvanas. It wasn’t helping either that each step Sylvanas took was longer than her, making Jaina practically jogged while chasing her.

She kept on following Sylvanas and before she realized it, she entered the War Room alongside her.

“I know but would you please just give me a chance to-“

Two figures already waited within the room, and one of them glared at her as she entered the room alongside Sylvanas. Alleria annoyance was clear at her on the left side of the room whereas Vereesa on the other side only raised her eyebrow curiously.

“Why is  _ she _ here, sister?” Alleria asked curtly.

Sylvanas sighed as she took her place amongst her sisters.

“I prefer not to say anything twice, Alleria. This matter includes the Alliance after all.”

Alleria slightly tilted her chin upwards and looked at Jaina.

“And? What does the Alliance want with the elves? Have you not done enough already?”

Jaina looked around between Sylvanas and Vereesa, both didn’t seem to have any intention to say anything.

“The Alliance wishes to amend what mess Garithos had made. We wish to extend our hand once more to aid them if they are willing to accept.” Jaina stated plainly. She knew better not to say anything but the truth towards the eldest sister.

Alleria scoffed, “Of course you are.”

_ What’s the problem with her? _

“Lady Alleria, our intention is honest. We truly wanted to mend this bridge that you held on several years ago. There is nothing-“

“Everything the Alliance has done is always paved with an ulterior motive. I know it as much since I’ve served them since the Second War. So why don’t you spare us the altruistic speech and just speak plainly of what you wanted with the elves?” Alleria coldly retorted.

Jaina narrowed her eyes. She initially thought that Alleria would be more welcoming with the idea since it was her who held on Quel’Thalas allegiance to the Alliance until the kingdom’s destruction. Without her influencing the king himself, the elves were going to pull themselves from the Alliance in the aftermath of the Second War.

Just as she was about to snap at Alleria, another pair of red eyes seemed to burn directly at her. She glanced slightly to the unnerving glare that Sylvanas gave her. There’s a very slight shake of her head that she nearly missed. As if it was a warning.

Jaina huffed and turned her eyes towards Alleria once more.

“The High King wanted to solidify the Alliance's presence within the Eastern Kingdom. And with the elves of Quel’Thalas rejoining the Alliance, the only remaining presence that could be counted as a threat is only the Scourge. We need not to worry about the Horde or anyone else anymore.”

“Hmph, the elves of Quel’Thalas will never join the Horde. That much, you need to know.” Alleria spoke easily.

When Jaina was about to retort that the Forsaken themselves once considered the idea, Vereesa cut her off first. It seemed like the youngest one had enough of them both.

“Are we going to discuss who will visit there or not? We can continue this discussion about the Alliance later when the elves have a word in this.”

“I’ve spoken about certain things with Alleria yesterday. In three days, we will move to Silvermoon while Alleria stays behind. Even if things have slowed down with those zealots, we still need to keep an eye on them. A small battalion should be enough to keep our march safe. If we are to encounter something that needs Alleria’s presence, we will portal her in.” Sylvanas answered.

Vereesa spared a curious glance towards Alleria for a moment. Alleria only offered a shrug.

“And you.” Sylvanas’ gaze shifted to Jaina, “I have said it before and I’ll say it again, the Forsaken will  _ not _ represent the Alliance in this matter. If the Alliance wishes to mend their relation with the elves, you are welcome to try. We have our own agenda with them.”

Jaina frowned, “We have a deal about assisting you in dealing with Naxxramas. Was that not enough?”

All three of them scowled almost immediately.

“Naxxramas is but one of many the pillars of the Scourge alongside the Archlich. We wanted nothing less than the total annihilation of the Scourge.” Sylvanas answered.

“Are you so naive to think that the destruction of Naxxramas is enough to earn our favor?” Alleria added.

Vereesa shook her head slightly, “There are still Andorhal, Scholomance, and Stratholme. As well as the rest of the Plaguelands infested with the Scourge’s presence. The Crusade no doubt is regrouping as well, another annoyance to deal with.”

Jaina sighed, that much was true. The latest piece of information that Shaw sent to her this morning was that the Scourge was still active even after the fall of Naxxramas. Moreover, the open distrust of Bolvar’s men nearly caused another rift between the Alliance and the Forsaken. It was fortunate enough that Bolvar stopped them before they did anything regrettable, which will ruin anything she had worked so far.

“Then I suppose you wanted me to bring my own men when we marched to Silvermoon to represent the Alliance myself?” Jaina asked as she crossed her arms.

The only answer she was given was a nod from Sylvanas.

It wasn’t long after the discussion about their visit to Silvermoon that Jaina was sent away by Sylvanas from the War Room. Valeera and Anya were waiting for her outside. The rogue gave her a playful grin while the dark ranger bowed to her.

Anya had left her presence for a while lately, said to be under instructions of the Dark Lady herself to aid the patrols around the Forsaken territory which left only the rogue with her. Both of them constantly were teasing each other when they thought Jaina wasn’t looking. Though most of the teasing came from Valeera while Anya more often than not looked annoyed that Valeera playfully retorted her teasing in return.

“How did you do that? Not even Shaw recognized your presence after you left.” Jaina asked as she walked alongside both of her escorts.

Valeera shrugged, “I learned from the very best there is. Lady Sylvanas was the Ranger General of Quel’Thalas after all.” Anya silently nodded in agreement next to her.

“I thought you’re a rogue, not a ranger like her?”

Valeera tsked as she waved a finger to her, “Lady Sylvanas is exceptional in many arts, my lady. It would be a massive mistake to think she was only adept in her ways with bows. The Amani trolls have learned that the hard way in the past.”

Jaina hummed as she walked back to her room. Her thought was muddled with the words of the three sisters. Sylvanas and Vereesa wished nothing more than the destruction of the Scourge across the land. Alleria herself has yet to even give an iota of trust after what she and the Alliance had done to the Forsaken. Jaina wasn’t certain that Vereesa had trusted her either, even with the promise she had agreed to much to her own dismay of lying to her best friend. Meanwhile, Sylvanas was still an enigma. She had shown herself to be willing to work together but always keeping Jaina in the dark of what she was actually doing.

She huffed as she reached her room. There was another task at hand and she must focus on this one for now. The mind games that she was wrapped in by the Queens had to wait for a while. It would do well for her to return to Theramore later in the afternoon and inform Pained to assemble her guards soon. The poor night elf had been worrying about her health a lot lately and it would do her some good to accompany her soon.

-o-

There was much suffering within the forest itself as Sylvanas rode alongside her rangers and Vereesa with her guards at her side. Proudmoore and her guards followed closely with her night elf bodyguard and Anya next to her. The wake of destruction the Scourge had left behind was extensive. The once glorious kingdom that she had served for hundreds of years was trampled in matter of weeks of Scourge’s assault.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay close to her, my lady?” Valeera whispered as she approached from behind.

“You’re being a bad influence for her Valeera. And besides, Anya can keep an eye on her just fine.” Sylvanas answered.

Valeera huffed quietly, but still enough for Sylvanas to hear her. She can only sigh at the young rogue annoyance.

The mage was getting bolder, that much she noticed. She had seen her nearly snapping at Alleria back then, and she can guarantee that won’t end well for either of them if that happened. Luckily, the mage had the tact to understand it.

They made sure to stay away from the path the Scourge had paved during their invasion of Quel'Thalas. According to Alina’s report, the elves called them Dead Scar since the place was still thick with the Scourge presence even after many months the dead were left to themselves after Arthas was done with the country. It was a wound that never seemed to be able to fix itself, as if a mockery left by that butcher to remind them who they dared to stand against.

There were eyes from the forest as they marched towards Silvermoon. No doubt by now that they were seen by the Farstriders. But she knew better than the other how they work. They won’t launch an attack against two battalions on their own, especially with their depleted strength.

Their march went uninterrupted until they reached the gate of the city. There were lines of elven warriors and rangers, with magisters as well waiting for them but none had taken any initiative to strike first. Sylvanas believed that the presence of their former Ranger-General and Ranger-Lieutenant swayed them from doing so. She raised her arms to stop both their march, putting a certain amount of distance between the elves and their forces to avoid unnecessary tension.

Sylvanas looked at Vereesa for a moment. Her little sister nodded as both of them dismounted from their horse. One of her guards walked next to her bringing the banner of the Forsaken as all of them stood before their former brethren.

The look from their eyes and ears was clear that they were hesitant and wary against her and her sister. She knew some of them. She was sure that her sacrifice led them to their safety, which she was relieved to know.

It was weird to see where she was right then. For hundreds of years she had stood alongside that gate, and now she stood on the opposite side of it. Even more so with the banner of another.

Belore had a twisted sense of humor.

_ “People of Quel’Thalas, hear me!”  _ Sylvanas began in Thalassian _ “We are not the Scourge that once invaded your land. We are the Forsaken of Lordaeron, the undead who had taken our freedom back from the monster that ravaged our land. My name is Sylvanas Windrunner, once the Ranger General of Quel’Thalas and now stood as a leader of these freed undead. We stood before you as fellow victims of the Scourge. All we ask is for you to let us speak with your leader!” _

There were many heads turning to one another for a moment, many discussing things between themselves. Some of them still glared at her, untrusting. Some of them were rather doubtful. Very few of them seemed to believe her words as they lowered their weapons.

It was before long that they made a path where two men approached them. Sylvanas easily recognized them both. Lor’themar and Rommath.

Lor’themar who was named as Regent Lord in Kael’thas’ absence, where Rommath was named as the Grand Magister of Quel’Thalas according to Alina’s report. Halduron seemed to be missing, who was supposed to be the new Ranger General.

It seemed Lor’themar lost one of his eyes from the last time Sylvanas saw him. She heard of him being injured after sieging the Scourge, but she did not know the details. Rommath looked much bitter and untrusting compared to her once second-in-command. Not that Sylvanas had any good past with Rommath either but still, he was one of the magisters she could respect.

“ _ Are you… truly? Sylvanas? Vereesa? _ ” Lor’themar spoke with much wariness. His remaining eye darted between herself and her sister. His hand was ready on his sword.

Sylvanas smirked, “ _ Old friend, we've worked together for more than we can count. If we are still but a puppet to that monster, we wouldn’t be standing alongside the Alliance this day. _ ”

Vereesa tilted her head slightly towards the mage and the rest of her Alliance guards. Lor’themar narrowed his eyes when he saw Jaina approaching alongside her bodyguard. She bowed as she stood alongside her.

“My name is Jaina Proudmoore. I’ve come representing the Alliance. We wanted to offer aid towards the people of Quel’Thalas under the word of the High King Varian Wrynn.” Jaina said as she offered her hand.

Lor’themar eyed her hand for a moment before settling a mild glare at her.

“Our last contact with the Alliance ends up in much hostility, Lady Proudmoore. What more did the Alliance want from us?” His curt answer made the little mage withdraw her hand.

To her surprise, Vereesa answered for Jaina.

“Her intention is truthful, Lor. She had offered aid for the Forsaken as well. We were skeptical at first but it seems she is genuine in that regard. There’s of course a matter that will be concerning the Alliance but it is what the Alliance wanted, not her.”

When did the mage and her sister get closer? Sylvanas thoughts wandered mildly. Velonara reported to her that a few days ago after she returned to Undercity from Naxxramas, her sister visited the grave of the nameless rangers alongside the mage. Did they reach a mutual understanding there? Or was there something else she didn’t know yet?

“It is only with honest intention, Regent Lord. We knew what Garithos had done and we wish to rebuild the bridge he once burned. We only wished that we would learn of his atrocities sooner.”

“And where is that vile man now? We refuse to have any discussion until that man is punished for practically sending us to our death!” Rommath spoke for the first time. It was clear that he’s less than thrilled to hear the human’s name.

“Dead. With Alleria dealing the final blow. Unfortunately, we have no idea where his remains are.” Sylvanas answered curtly.

It was a lie of course. His body was given to the ghouls that served the Forsaken. She and her sisters watched with a glee as the rest of his men looked at them with horrified looks on their face, before they were killed or taken prisoner afterwards.

There was a look of surprise from both Lor’themar and Rommath. She knew not which part they were surprised about, that Garithos’ carcass was somewhere within the soil of Lordaeron or that Alleria was the one who killed him.

“So the three of you are…”

“As I’ve said. We led these people who suffered firsthand from that monster's cruelty alongside others who were raised from what remains during his slaughter on Quel’Thalas. We know not of how we regain control of ourselves, but it doesn’t matter. Our will is our own once more.” Sylvanas answered plainly.

A curious look was clear from Lor’Themar face, but Vereesa cut him short from further questions, “We prefer not to discuss it here, Lor. How is your answer to us? And the Alliance?”

Lor’themar turned his eye towards Proudmoore who held out her hand once more. Though she can see the hesitation from him, he shook her hand. Rommath who stood behind him watched Jaina warily.

“This doesn’t mean anything yet until we discussed everything. We also have to talk with Kael’thas as well since it will be his decision that mattered.” Lor’themar spoke plainly. Jaina only nodded, seemingly satisfied with the decision for now.

“That means also to you as well, Sylvanas. We cannot let any of your forces enter the city. There is still much wariness against the dead. We have a lot to talk about.”

Sylvanas nodded. Vereesa gave the order for her forces to stand down and remain out of the gates, as well as assigning Anya to keep them in order. Proudmoore did the same as well to her men.

It was enough. This much trust was more than enough for her.

-o-

As they were escorted towards the Sunstrider Spire, Jaina could see Pained somewhat covering her eyes.

“Why is everything so bright in here?” Pained complained. Jaina can only chuckle at her bodyguard’s misery.

It used to be much grandeur. If anything, the city still held on to its beauty, albeit there were many differences now. Many of the architecture remained but the populace was different. One thing Jaina noticed immediately was their eyes. They no longer had the same arcane glow she used to remember. So many of them were replaced by the color of fel energy.

Jaina can’t help but feel somewhat uneasy with them. It reminded her too much about the Legion. She had yet to discover why the change of their eyes but she preferred not to inquire too much about something that was yet crucial to her purpose here.

The elves had gone up ahead alongside the Queens and Valeera. The Regent Lord had promised her that he would let her talk to him and discuss whatever may be done. It was a good progress, Jaina thought. She however was dreading to see Kael’thas, who was in the Outland as they were speaking. Her last conversation with the elven prince was not so peaceful. He blamed her for the deaths of his people and her father. She of course denied any of the accusations he threw at her and her master was more than willing to break the much heated arguments.

It was then that she told her master of Medivh’s word to move towards the forgotten land of Kalimdor. Her master, who initially dismissed the idea, supported her and sent her away with people who were willing to go alongside her. It saddened her of course that her master chose to stay behind and eventually fell against the Scourge.

She knew at least that Kel’Thuzad took pleasure in the death of her master. Knowing that he was under the watchful eye of the Forsaken, it set her heart at peace. The former six had much to answer for. From the Cult of the Damned that spread out the plague of undeath to the annihilation of not one but two kingdoms.

It was only as they finally reached the spire ground that a red haired elf, wearing heavy armor that seemed to likened that of a veteran warrior approached the sisters. Her eyes were glowing like the light itself. She was different from the others she had seen thus far. She understood nothing much of Thalassian but Pained seemed to be listening to their murmured talks. It came to a surprise for her that the woman embraced both Vereesa and Sylvanas. Which both of them returned after seemingly dumbfounded by the comforting gesture.

Valeera also sheepishly waved at the woman as well, before getting herself pulled in as well towards her. The elf was clearly holding back her tears at that point but she refused to let even a drop fall from her eyes.

“They knew each other well.” Pained commented next to her.

“You understand their language?”

“Darnassian and Thalassian were not so different, my lady. They were once a part of our people after all.” Pained answered with a shrug.

“What is she saying then?”

Pained mellowed for a moment before answering.

“She said that she missed them all so badly.”

As Jaina and Pained watched on, the woman seemed to be searching for someone else. Both Sylvanas’ and Vereesa’s ears drooped. Valeera spoke of something as she looked around before the woman led them somewhere.

No sooner than later, one of the guards that were escorting them moved towards Jaina and Pained. His eyes darted between both of them for a moment before he finally spoke.

“If both of you would please follow me, the Regent Lord and the Grand Magister will like to have some words with the Alliance.” The guard spoke plainly in Common.

Jaina raised one of her eyebrows, “What about Lady Sylvanas and Lady Vereesa?”

“The Blood Knight Matriarch wishes to have some words with them. Now, If you would please follow me.”

_ Blood Knight? I’ve never heard of such an order before amongst the elves. _

Jaina’s curiosity had to wait however since she had no choice but to follow the guard. Perhaps her curiosity could be filled when they were back in Undercity. Hopefully the discussion will go well and short enough.

-o-

It was a painstakingly long discussion.

With the Grand Magister’s skepticism with every word she said, and Jaina’s need to reassure him that there would be no strings attached to her words, it took almost the whole afternoon. The discussion was adjourned for the moment since the Regent Lord and the Grand Magister were called out by the guards for an urgent matter.

Pained had chosen to relieve herself of duty and took some rest. Murmuring something about the heat that she can’t really stand against. A sentiment Jaina understood easily being one who was born in Kul Tiras.

And there she was now, having nothing to do but walking towards The Library of Silvermoon. She remembered of herself years ago where Kael’thas offered her a visit to the library, which was quite vast but still not as large as Dalaran. He would take his time to court her again and again, only to realize one day that she was promised with Arthas. He was nothing but relentless afterwards still.

She frowned however as she reached the library. There was no one here but dust gathering on every shelf. Her eyes darted around the building and she was perturbed to see no one was around as well. Books were still on the shelves just like in the past, but the people seemed to have abandoned the library altogether.

Jaina reached out to take one of the books on the shelves. It was one of the books of transmuting arcane, written in Thalassian. Fortunately, the book also had the translated version on it as well. It would do wonders if she wanted to learn the language too.

Out of all a sudden she can feel a chilling presence from behind her. An odd occurrence, remembering how warm Silvermoon was. 

“Looking to learn Thalassian, I assume?”

Jaina jumped off her skin as she turned around to see Sylvanas was leaning on one of the shelves, crossing her arms. How did she not see her there before?

“How did you even-“

“You are in the wrong place, I’m afraid. This library is no longer used. The new one is currently being rebuilt.” She said easily.

“How did you know about it already?” Jaina asked, raising one of her eyebrows.

“I’ve looked around, in case you never noticed.”

Right, that’s what a ranger would do. Always gathering anything they needed to know before jumping into a fray.

“And I suppose you’re here not for an idle chat with me?” Jaina queried as she walked to one of the tables to settle the book down for a read.

Red eyes looking at her curiously. Before the silence grew too long, Sylvanas sighed.

“I need a favor to ask from you.”

-o-

“Begin!”

Alleria shouted at the new recruits Vereesa brought her. She wasn’t as soft as her little sister. Whereas Vereesa brought them clarity to their current state and newfound freedom, she forged them to a weapon for her people. These were the ones who wished vengeance upon the Scourge. Those who wished the same thing as her.

Alleria wasted no time for pleasantries like Sylvanas. There’s no need for another speech of their curse. She needed them at their finest against the Scourge and those zealots. 

Pleasantries have no place in times of battle. It will only get them killed.

In front of her, she had them tested for mock battle. To see the potential that Vereesa had told her that she believed in them. So far, none of them impressed her with the way they swung their blades or how they could withstand one or another blow. She gritted her teeth at every opportunity they passed.

“All of you are nothing but disappointments! Use every moment! Seize every chance you have to strike! Put the one in front of you down before they do!”

There were other ways to encourage someone to fight harder. A simple encouragement won’t be enough. She wanted them to prove her wrong. That they were not as weak as she thought they were.

She was a little satisfied that some of them started taking her word immediately. Many of them started taking cheap shots to incapacitate one another. There was no need to play fair in a battle. There was no honor in a battlefield. There was only victory or death. It was plain simple. Clinging to the idea of honor in a fight between life or death was a fool’s idea.

Vorel, who stood behind her silently all the time, suddenly stepped next to her.

“My Queen, the human mage was looking for you.” Vorel whispered next to her as she glanced to the entrance of the barracks.

The mage eyed at her with both curiosity and exasperated look.

_ What is she doing here? Wasn’t she supposed to be at Silvermoon with Sylvanas and Vereesa? _

“Let her be. I have no interest in entertaining her.”

“Do you wish me to escort her elsewhere?” Vorel asked once more.

Her very presence agitated her. She always viewed the young mage as a naive fool who wished a sense of redemption for her inactions. A naive woman who will only be used by another that took advantage of her stupid idealism. But when the news that Valeera brought to her came to light that she was willing to sacrifice her own father for the sake of fragile peace with those savages the Forsaken nearly allied to, Alleria viewed her as a threat.

She cannot be allowed to remain close to her, or her sisters. Even the Forsaken. That smile she gave to her people was nothing short but a wolf in sheep's clothing. The offer of help was nothing more than a way to let her guard down. A traitor will always be a traitor.

“Yes, send her away.” Alleria said as she kept watching the battle went on. Vorel bowed and walked to the mage.

Alleria turned her attention back to the recruits. Those who fell against their paired opponent stayed on the ground whereas the victors started to find another opponent. One by one, they either fell or stood tall. From thirty now only down to ten. She was amused but still not impressed.

As she watched the recruits for a while longer, Alleria glanced to where the mage was. She seemed to be insistent to be here. Vorel couldn’t seem to get the mage to leave either. It irked her even further. So much so that she had lost interest in keeping watch of the practice session she started not long ago.

“Enough!” Alleria shouted. The recruits gathered themselves before they started to line up in front of her, waiting for further instructions.

“I’ve seen nothing of what my sister said in any of you just yet. None of you displayed any sorts of promises that could impress me, and I sure as hell do not want any of you under my command.”

All of them lowered their head, cowering before her statement. Maybe even disappointed with themselves.

“Will all of you continue being a disappointment to me? Or will you show what you can do to me?” Alleria said as she crossed her arms.

That roused them. All of them have nowhere left to go when they accept Vereesa’s offer. All of them had nothing left when they accepted Sylvanas’ welcome to join the Forsaken. Her disappointment will mean their end, here and there. They only have one choice in this regard.

“We shall strive to prove ourselves, Queen Alleria.”

“We shall prove our worth to you.”

“This, we promise to you, and to everyone.”

Alleria nodded lightly, “Train well, and fight without hesitation. Remember who our enemies are, remember who we are. We are the Forsaken. Those who threatened our existence will pay with their lives!”

As she watched the recruits scattered around and leaving the barracks one by one, Vorel approached her as she shook her head lightly.

“The mage insisted to speak with you, my lady. She isn’t willing to explain to me about what she wanted to say however.”

Alleria scowled as the mage approached closely behind Vorel.

“Lady Alleria-”

“Whatever you wanted to say, I have no interest in it. So save your breath.” Alleria said curtly as she walked past the mage.

She can see the mage scowled as she dismissed her so easily and Alleria can hear her boots following her closely from behind.

“I only need a moment of your-”

“I have no interest in talking with you, human! If you wish to talk, go to the others!” Alleria replied harshly enough that she wished the mage would take a hint and go bother anyone else but her.

Rage filled her when her wrist was pulled by a warm hand and her eyes were met with an annoyed gaze of the mage eyes, arcane practically crackling beneath it.

“Just listen to me for once!” The mage shouted at her while at the same time Alleria growled at her. To her surprise, and annoyance, she didn’t cower like the first time they met.

“I’m here under Sylvanas’ order to bring you to Silvermoon! There! It is only that I wished to talk to you about!”

Alleria's gaze never left the mage’s eyes even one moment. While Vorel was more than ready to stop the mage, when she invoked Sylvanas’ name, Vorel can’t help but to halt herself. She can hear the mage’s heart beating fast. But it was not the rhythm of someone lying, but angry.

Alleria remained skeptical however. She reminded herself over and over again that the mage couldn’t be trusted. If it wasn’t of her sisters insistence that the mage was required, she would’ve disposed of her.

She quickly glanced at the bracelet the mage was given to her and her sisters. The bracelet acted as a tool to end the mage’s life if she did something that was out of their agreement. But it was more than that.

Alleria gripped the bracelet tightly and peered to it. There was a faint glow of sapphire beneath one of the greyed out stones which could mean one thing.

_ Sylvanas’ mark. The mage wasn’t lying after all. _

Alleria saw that the mage looked curiously at the bracelet as well. Before the mage could find out any further of the bracelet’s further uses, she released her arm.

“Hmph, wait for me in the Royal Quarter, there are a few things I must do before I leave.” Alleria answered as she left, leaving the human behind.

To be truthful, there’s only one thing that she needed to do as Alleria entered her quarter. She wrote down an order to increase the amount of patrol within the city and she will leave Velonara in charge of the city needs for now. If all three of them were not in the city, someone would need to be in charge. All three of them agreed that Velonara would be suitable when the need arises.

As Alleria returned to the Royal Quarter, Vorel was standing next to the mage who had woven the portal ahead of her. She passed the message to the dark ranger.

“For Velonara. I trust that you will give it to her post-haste.” Alleria spoke as she looked toward the portal. Vorel received it and bowed as she left immediately.

She could see the old sight of the city she had protected for hundreds of years beyond the swirling dimensional door. She could hardly believe the report when it came through that their people strived once more and persevered amidst the destruction of their kingdom.

Not wanting to give any impression to the mage, she strode immediately without hesitation. As she passed the portal, she could easily recognize the building. The Sunstrider Spire, or at least it looked as similar as it used to be.

“If you would follow me?” The mage spoke flatly. Alleria could only leer with suspicion as she followed the mage to one of the rooms. The absence of the guards only annoyed her even further. This building used to be rife with nobles who would seek to garner either the Prince or the King’s favor. Guards would be all over the place that was either following those snotty nobles or just the palace guards.

The mage led her to a room. It looked like someone's office. The mage looked confused as she entered the room to find it empty. Alleria scowled.

“What game are you playing, mage? Where are my sisters?” Alleria spoke, furrowing her brow as her ears perked up in alert. Her hand was already about to reach a dagger hidden on her back.

“I-I don’t know. Sylvanas only said to me to lead you here. Give me a moment.” The mage looked around as if looking for some kind of clue that she was missing. Before long, she found a simple note on the table. Her eyes darting over the note, reading it quickly.

“She said that she’ll be out for a moment and insisted that you wait here.” The mage spoke as she passed the note to Alleria. She eyed her warily as she took the note. It was indeed Sylvanas’ handwriting in Common.

There was a knock on the door shortly after.

“Lady Proudmoore, the Lord Regent is looking for you to resume your talk.” A murmur was sounded behind the door. It was Valeera’s.

“I will be right there.” The mage replied. She looked at Alleria for a moment. Alleria could care less where the mage was summoned as she casually waved her away. If her sister wished for her to be here, so be it. It might be something urgent. And it would be better without the mage hovering behind her.

As she heard the door closed behind her, she couldn’t help but feeling a familiar look around the office. As per her curious nature, she took another look around the room once more. There was an armor stand which was missing an armor, most likely being worn at the moment. A holder to store a sword and a shield, alongside a whetstone and armor polish beneath it.

A warrior then. The room belonged to a warrior. She wondered however about the tabard on the desk. She never recognized the insignia before. Was it a new order that was founded after the fall of Quel’Thalas?

As she ran her hand across the tabard, she could feel something was underneath it. As she uncovered what it was, her eyes widened.

A necklace, with a golden chain alongside two colorful feathers of a hawkstrider matriarch and a small emerald gem dangling between it. It was an accessory she knew all too well. 

She made it several years ago.

A promise, she had given it to the one person she cherished just as much as her own family. The one which was given to her was nowhere to be found as she was raised back then.

Too dumbstruck with the necklace in front of her, Alleria didn’t realize that someone had entered the room until the door clicked behind her. As she was about to turn around, she recognized that it wasn’t either Sylvanas or Vereesa. No. Alleria knew their presence well. Being one who shared the same suffering from Arthas, she could sense her sisters alongside the dark rangers albeit to such clarity as Sylvanas did.

“Alleria?” Alleria stiffened. She recognized that voice, just as much as she recognized the necklace. The voice was both curious and worried. It was so different, yet it was all the same. Even after years they had been separated, she still remembered her voice just as she first heard it underneath that healing tent back then.

But she couldn’t turn around. She couldn’t allow her to look at herself like this.

“Are you truly… Alleria?” It was almost desperate.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Why? What was Sylvanas thinking by bringing her here to meet with her once beloved? Hadn’t she made it clear to her sister that she didn’t want this? Her emotion stirred and clouded. Her unbeating heart could only clench as she heard the woman took a step closer to her.

As she steeled herself, resigning that there was no way out of this, she closed her eyes as she turned around. With the necklace still in her hand, she heard a gasp so quiet that she almost missed it. Slowly, she opened her crimson eyes, meeting the other pair, color like the sun itself, as a few drops of tear fell from it. And still, she was as radiant as the last time she saw her.

“Liadrin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With my work getting doubled now, I can only apologize that the update won't be as often as before. This new set of work that got dropped on me drained pretty much all the time I have to write. I can only say sorry about this.


	9. Interlude - Of Wrath and Vengeance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alleria's past with the Scourge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: This interlude is darker than the rest of my work.

_ Free? She was freed? _

_ Darkness slowly receded from her vision. As she blinked her eyes several times, her vision became clear. The sun was about to set at the horizon. There were mangled bodies all around her. But they didn’t stay down, instead one by one they rose and shambled, walking aimlessly. Their eyes were dull. There was no sign of  _ _ consciousness _ _ as they walked. _

_ Alleria pulled her hands in front of her. She tried palming it once, then twice and they obeyed her. That moment of relief was immediately turned into a dread as she realized something. They were blood-soaked. Just in front of her, there was a corpse of a human man. Desecrated. Mutilated. As if something ate him not a moment ago.  _

_ The next moment she registered something, blood dripped from her mouth. She gagged instantly. She wanted to feel sick. She wanted to throw up. She should’ve puked. _

_ But nothing came up. That disturbed her the most.  _

_ The taste of flesh. _

_ It finally registered within herself. She shook her head badly. _

_ ‘No. No. No. No. No.’ _

_ But this wasn’t the time to sit there and think. She needed to move. _

_ She looked around. She was at some kind of village. There was nothing left however. Nothing but ruin and the dead. The monsters that she once killed over and over in life were all around her. They walked past her as she still knelt down. They didn’t seem to register her existence. _

_ She stumbled back from where the rest of the undead marched. She tried to stand up. Her feet obeyed her. This time she was sure. She was in control of her own once more. _

_ But how did she end up here in the first place? _

_ The last thing she remembered was the torture chamber. After she was raised, she was subjected to numerous experiments of that accursed lich of his. That butcher would visit every now and then, to laugh at her for spewing empty threats before her death. Yet she had never left the castle. She remembered that well enough.  _

_ She remembered well of each time her arms were stabbed by cursed looking daggers and swords. From time to time, the wound was simply sealed with a spell by the lich himself. He would froze her arm so the ichor won’t bleed out and continued to work on the other one. When she could endure no longer, only then her arms were restored once more, only to be returned to that torture chamber afterwards. _

_ But getting here? Out from that torture chamber? From that castle? She never remembered it. _

_ Without wasting another second, she ran. _

_ She ran before anyone knew it. Before anyone realized that she was freed from the butcher that raised her and turned her into ‘this’. For a moment, she hesitated as she looked over her shoulder. She gazed upon the fallen capital city as evening settled on the horizon. The city which imprisoned two individuals she cherished the most in this torment that they shared. Sylvanas and Vereesa. _

_ Sylvanas, who was raised and denied her body. She was forced to follow the damned butcher around as her spirit was paraded. She would suffer torture from time to time on his whims. Forced against her will to kill and raise those she cared about. _

_ Vereesa, who suffered the same fate as her and rendered blind before her death. After that butcher was satisfied using her to murder the people of Quel’Thalas, she was forced to serve as a servant for him as his source of entertainment. He would laugh at her every time she fell or stumble across the castle ground. _

_ ‘I swear I will return. I promise. With the rest of the Alliance, I will return to free both of you.’ _

_ And thus she ran. She quickly made her way to the forest to lose any prying gaze from anything around her. Much of the forest had decayed and withered, providing little cover, but the night that followed soon will aid her nonetheless. _

_ There were advantages in this cursed form, much to her disgust. She could see better in the dark. She had no need for air as she continued to run, shifting from one place to another. However she couldn’t run far. The dead of night proved to be too perilous to venture without any weapon. Those of the Scourge would have the same ability as her, hence the darkness wouldn’t mean much. There were also forest dwellers still around. Beasts that cared neither the living nor the dead.  _

_ Eventually she stumbled upon a small village. There were no signs of the Scourge ever invading the place. She could see some of the villagers were still out of their houses. Men and women who seemed to settle peacefully, perhaps even ignorant of what happened in the capital city. _

_ As she was about to walk into the village, to ask for aid, she stopped. _

_ She could feel great hunger as she saw a couple walking about in the night. Her instinct screamed at her to hunt them. To rend their flesh clean. To consume. _

_ She gripped her head tightly as she turned around, hiding behind a tree. _

_ ‘What is wrong with me?’ _

_ She took another look at the state she was in. Remnants of dried blood on her hands and mouth. Her clothes and breeches were drenched with it as well. She looked no different than those undead she had left behind. _

_ ‘This won’t do.’ _

_ Maybe Varian and the other higher ups will recognize her. But not these villagers. _

_ It was either by luck or some twisted mercy that her body seemed intact compared to the other undead. She would need something more to cover herself completely and disguised herself amongst the living. A hood and a cloak to begin with. That should work as she made her way to the south. _

_ And perhaps to ask why the Alliance didn’t respond to Quel’Thalas plea for aid. _

_ And so she tried to find a nearby river to wash over blood all over herself in an attempt to clean herself from the stench of blood. _

_ The moon shone brightly tonight. No clouds seemed to be covering its light. Not far from the village, she arrived at a nearby river. It was clean, and no one else was around there. She stepped quietly still to avoid unnecessary attention.  _

_ As she finally reached the river, she saw herself. _

_ The river gave a clear reflection of how she looked. No longer was her hair bright as the sun like her mother told her. No longer she had the tattoo on her left eye which Liadrin used to caress so lovingly before kissing her. No longer were her eyes shone crystal blue like how it used to be. _

_ She looked like a monster. A cursed being from the children’s book. Her hair was ashen blonde. The tattoo on her left eye was replaced with a burning scar, alongside the other on her arms were riddled by stab marks. Her eyes were burning like a blazing flame. She clawed the water away. Thinking this was some kind of illusion. Some trick to disfigure her form. But alas, the reflection only gave her the truth. _

_ She cried, but no tears would come out. What happened to her? Was such a fate truly given to her? Had Belore forsaken her this much that she was given such a cruel fate? _

_ In anguish, she wailed. A wail so loud that the riverbed was shook. The birds in nearby forest left their premises on alert. _

_ Why? _

_ Why couldn’t she be given a quick death? _

_ Why must she suffer so for doing what was right? _

_ Why was she kept alive until she saw Vereesa died before her very eyes? _

_ Why did Sylvanas have to watch her die? _

_ What was her sin to be given such torment? _

_ Not long as she lamented her fate, she heard a rustle near her. Murmurs of people who seemed to approach the river slowly. Panicking, she quickly stood and attempted to sneak again. Unfortunately, the village seemed to be on alert as the men had already spread out. She couldn’t run away from there for now without alerting anyone. _

_ What a fool she was. Of course her wail would attract the villagers attention. _

_ As she sneaked around, her eyes fell to what looked like a stable. She moved stealthily and pulled any cloth she could find and concealed herself with it, trying to hide as many skins that were shown. To try to hide her hideous feature. But it was not enough. It can only cover her own badly scarred arms. _

_ Seeing no other option but to stay there for a while until the villagers calmed down, she decided to hide there for the time being. _

_ That was until the horses started to act out of panic at the sight of her. The whole stable was growing loud with the horses being restless. In a futile attempt, she tried to hush them but ended up failing miserably as they panicked even more. As if almost in an instant, the stable door opened and a man appeared. _

_ She was surprised to find that was an elf that met her eyes. Even more surprised that he recognized her. _

_ “Lady… Alleria? Is that you?” The elf tilted his head. He held out his lantern to make a better look of her face. _

_ Her thirst for the living was great. Her vision turned red as she saw the man by the door. With much willpower, she tried to curb that hunger back as she shook her head. She saw the fearful face of the man, ready to bolt out any second.  _

_ Before that happened, she mustered herself to speak, raising her hands as a sign of peace, “Please. I don’t want any trouble. Let me hide away for awhile and I won’t cause you any trouble.” _

_ Her voice echoed throughout the stable. The horses kept getting agitated. The presence of its owner, she assumed, didn’t seem to calm them either. _

_ “What… happened to you?” His ears fell flat to his skull. Cautious. Alerted. Afraid. _

_ “I… died and was raised.” The elf stepped back almost immediately. Alleria quickly added then, “But I’m free now! I intended to go and plead the people of the Alliance for their aid. The Scourge don’t know of this place either! Please, I won’t ask much but to hide here for the night. I will be going tomorrow.” _

_ The elf gulped as he tried to decide what he must do. Shortly, he nodded to her. _

_ “Stay here. I will escort the horse away. You wouldn’t be able to hide here with them around.” _

_ Relieved. She was relieved that someone was willing to trust her. She watched as the man pried his horses away one by one, leaving her alone in the stable. She muttered thanks as he finally left. There, she hid. For now, she would resign her fate to waste away in the smelly stable. Such fate was better for her compared to the days she spent within that castle. _

_ She didn’t know how long she had closed her eyes. It was certainly a while before the night finally claimed her. But the dreams, she couldn’t decide if it was a blissful one or a nightmare. She was reminded of everything she used to have. She dreamt of holding her sisters and brothers in her arms as they were born in this world. She dreamt of Liadrin’s loving embrace as they slept together on a hammock within the spire. She dreamt of Quel’Thalas in all of its glory after coming victorious in the Second War. _

_ It pained her, to remember that she will no longer have any of it. Her sisters died and raised, turned to the same monstrosity as she was. She was afraid of meeting them again. Afraid that she will be blamed by them for letting that monster breach the First Elfgate which led to their demise. Afraid that Liadrin had died and raised, wandering somewhere in Quel’Thalas as she was. Afraid of what had Quel’Thalas become after everything that had happened. _

_ And then, there was noise. Loud noises were waiting behind the door of the stable that woke her up. Voices clamoring to burn the place down. She peeked from one of the holes. Her heart sank as she watched the elf stand alongside the angry mob pointing at the stable where she hid. She could hear their raised voices from within. _

_ ‘She is an undead! We have to send her back to her grave!’ _

_ ‘We can’t trust her! She is leading the Scourge here!’ _

_ ‘I say we kill her! Let the Scourge know that we’re not afraid of them!’ _

_ ‘Yes! Burn her so she won’t return anymore!’ _

_ She fell back to the corners of the stable after locking the door from the inside. No sooner after she did, the door to the stable was slammed again and again. The cries of people who wanted her demise were the only thing she heard as she looked around. There was no other way out. _

_ Slowly, she covered her face with her hands as the cloth that hid her arms fell off. She laughed to herself. What did she expect as she ran from her murderer, really? That her pleas would be listened to by the living? That her cry for help would be answered when it didn’t as she fell that day? _

_ A fool. She was a fool. Her fate was sealed when she was raised to be one of the monstrosities. His monstrosities. Before long, the door was rammed open. She laughed and laughed as the villagers swarmed into the stable, slowly circling her with their pitchforks held to her. _

_ ‘Maybe I should just let myself be killed and be done with…’ She thought as her laughter went down. _

_ But suddenly, something tugged on the back of her mind. Like a switch, her vision blacked out. _

_ And then, she wailed. _

_ She wailed at one of the villagers who was bold enough to approach her first. The poor man withered away as Alleria turned to a black mist within the next second. The villagers scrambled away from the stable as darkness settled amongst them, their torches were snuffed out by her deafening wail. One by one from the dark of night, Alleria lunged at them. She killed. She maimed. She eviscerated them all. Their cries of mercy fell to deaf ear as one by one they fell before her onslaught. _

_ Just what like a haze, her consciousness returned once again, only for her to see her hands soaked with blood once more. Corpses scattered in front of her as she felt what seemed like a familiar vision. _

_ She knelt amongst the corpses of the villagers. Again. _

_ ‘What… just happened?’  _

_ She clutched her head tightly, trying to remember what just happened. She didn’t want it to end like this. She never wanted to kill them. She never wanted to hurt them. She even gave up to let her be killed by them.  _

_ ‘No. No, it wasn’t me! I didn’t do this! I didn’t do any of this!’ _

_ She remembered it so faintly, that something tugged her mind back then. As if something pulled her consciousness back to the dark and replaced it with something else. Something vile and unrecognizable, yet something she was familiar with. _

_ During her inner turmoil, she heard a gallop from somewhere behind her. She wanted to run again before she was confronted once more, but she fell down as she grunted in agony. The scar on her stomach burned, as if she was run through again. Her legs refused to move, her gaze was locked to the approaching knight. A death knight. _

_ “Splendid. Just like the last one. Five villages and all of them are slaughtered by herself.” _

_ She recognized that voice. It was him. The one who tortured her again and again. The one who blinded her poor Little Moon. The one who flayed Lady Moon’s soul apart. _

_ As he dismounted from that skeletal steed of his, he stepped closer to her, with his ghouls wasting away on the villagers she just massacred and the necromancers performing their spell. Alongside him, his lich floated closely as he chuckled. _

_ “She will be a great asset to the Scourge, my king. As I’ve told you once before. Soon she’ll prove herself even more valuable when my experiment is complete.” _

_ She forced his gaze upon him. All she could see was red towards the man with white hair alongside his infuriating smirk. Ignoring the searing pain on her stomach, she lunged upon him before he simply flashed a grin and said, _

_ “Bow.” _

_ Her hands were immediately on the ground as with her knees, her head hung low as she bowed before him. She couldn’t disobey. She struggled. Why won’t her limbs obey her anymore? Wasn’t she free? _

_ He chuckled darkly as he walked towards her, “How does it feel, Lady Alleria? A small taste of your freedom? It is intoxicating, isn’t it?” _

_ Anger built up within her. So this was part of his sick plan? To give her a false sense of freedom? _

_ “And how does it feel? To be unwanted? To be hunted in return?” _

_ Frustration. Frustration ebbed within her as she couldn’t even reply. _

_ He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. His cold gaze bore within her blazing red one, “Know this. I own you and you are mine to command. You’ll spend the rest of your newfound immortality with me as your new king. The sooner you come to these terms, I’ll let you be more than just a mindless monster. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll let your sisters suffer a little less with your obedience. Understand?” _

_ She gritted her jaw. She wanted to rip his hand off. She wanted to pull that tongue from that skull. She wanted to spit on him. Any sort of defiance. Anything. _

_ But what can she do? _

_ Her fate was done. She couldn’t fight him. She would eventually be thrown to this cruel cycle once more if she objected. Her sisters will suffer even worse with every defiance she showed. _

_ She gritted her teeth, wanting to bite out her tongue before she could utter the word. But alas, she couldn’t fight back. With great reluctance, she answered. _

_ “Yes.., my king.” _

_ A satisfied grin was spread across his face as he let her go. _

_ “Kel’thuzad, you spoke of raising the rangers, correct?” The lich nodded, “Good, make sure their bodies prepared tomorrow. I will raise them soon with some help from their dear general. Someone will need to lead them afterwards. Perhaps, their former captain is still competent enough to do so.” Arthas simply said as he rode his steed giving a quick glance to Alleria before he left.  _

_ “As you command, my king.” Kel’thuzad chuckled darkly as he left as well. _

_ There she kept kneeling, surrendering her fate to the service of the man who killed her and her people. Her sisters. Only darkness filled her vision as she felt herself shackled once more within her mind. She closed her eyes. Maybe this is it. This is the end of her story. To be a slave of torment for eternity. To be a weapon for her murderer. _

_ -o- _

_ “Alleria.” _

_ “Yes?” _

_ “Come here.” Her mother patted the soft grass next to her. They were out hunting for food to stock the village supply. It was Alleria’s favorite thing to do, especially with her mother. She would usually do this with Sylvanas but she was busy with her training. _

_ Alleria jogged to her and almost slid next to her. Her mother chuckled as she patted her head. _

_ Her mother’s eyes softened as she caressed her hair, “Take care of everyone for me, Alleria.” _

_ Alleria’s eyebrows rose at her mother’s request, “Minn’da?” _

_ Her mother only chuckled again. _

_ “Take care of them. Our family is everything we have. The Spire, the lands, our wealth, they meant nothing compared to your sisters and brother.” _

_ Alleria, confused at her mother’s word, can only nod at the ominous request. Was her mother going somewhere? _

_ “I know you don’t really wish to take my position as the Ranger General. You must guide Sylvanas in that regard. You also have to keep Vereesa from unsuitable partners for her life too. And also let Lirath choose his own path, should he wish not to follow our footsteps as rangers.” Her mother’s smile was radiant but Alleria noticed the sadness hiding from it.  _

_ “And Valeera?” Alleria asked light-heartedly, trying to lighten the mood. _

_ “Keep that little one away from trouble. She has a penchant in causing one.” Her mother chided, her tone was light. _

_ Alleria chuckled and sheepishly looked at her mother as she continued, “And…” _

_ Her mother smiled softly, “I approve of your relationship with Liadrin. As long as you are happy with her, both of you have my blessings.” _

_ Though she was supposed to be happy with her mother’s word that she approved of her relationship with Liadrin, her heart felt uneasy however as her mother's smile faded. _

_ “Are you going somewhere, Minn’da?” Alleria asked as her eyes met her mother’s. _

_ Her mother’s face was solemn and sad, as if coming to a term with something. _

_ “It’s nothing.” She said as she shook her head, “But promise me that you will do that for me? For our family?” Her mother said as she raised her pinky finger to Alleria. _

_ Alleria, still suspicious of her mother’s dismissal, gave her word nonetheless as she reached to her mother’s finger. _

_ “I promise.” _

_ -o- _

_ Alleria’s opened her eyes slowly as she glared at the vanishing sight of that accursed death knight. The darkness which clouded her vision receded, turned to blood red as she kept her gaze towards that man. Slowly, her limbs were hers once more to command as she stood up. The scars on her right arm glowed glacial blue, releasing chilling cold to any who stepped too close to her. _

_ She had failed her mother. _

_ She had let her sisters and brother die. _

_ She had killed those she had sworn to protect. _

_ But this was not the end of it. _

_ She was still in this realm, for better or worse. _

_ So were her sisters. _

_ Her crimson eyes burned with wrath latched within her very being as her hands trembled and clenched to a fist. _

_ ‘This isn’t over yet.’ _

_ It will not be over. Not until that butcher lay down on her feet. Not until she gouged out his eyes for what he had done to Vereesa. Not until she ripped out his throat for what he had done to Sylvanas. Not until she riddled his every limb with arrows and dismembered his insides for what he had done to Quel’Thalas. Not until she impaled him herself with a blunt stick for what he had done to her. _

_ And she swore of it, for her sisters, she will prevail. She had promised her mother she would protect them. No matter what needed to be done to do so. _

_ Nothing else mattered. _

_ Nothing. _


	10. Unrequited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alleria and Liadrin discussed what is left between them, another battle is in the horizon, and a detour occured.

“What do you want?” Alleria asked as she turned around once more. She couldn’t bear to look at Liadrin. She could tell that Liadrin was wiping her tears by now. The necklace was held within her hand tightly, obscured from Liadrin’s eyes.

Liadrin was not one to shed her tears easily. Alleria knew that well enough after years standing by her side, all back to before the Second War when they first met. The only time Liadrin let her tears drop from her eyes was when she had given her this necklace. In return, she was given a golden earring with an Amber gemstone adorning it which she wore every single day until the time of her death. It was lost when she was raised. She knew not who took it, but it didn’t matter anymore.

The urge to comfort Liadrin was maddening. Her body shook hearing her sobbing, but everything within her shouted that she will never be able to give it anymore. Liadrin would never find any comfort with this cold body. Her eyes fell back to the necklace she had once given to Liadrin on her right hand as she clutched it close to her unbeating heart.

Why did this mean so much to her? Why did Liadrin keep it still? What was the point of holding this, when the owner was long gone when she had suffered her first death?

“Alleria… I-“

“I’ll ask of you again, what do you want of me that my sister had to summon me here in the first place?” Her voice was colder than before.

She was never one to mince words. She was always straightforward when it comes to both talks and battles. It was why Sylvanas was a better leader compared to her and Vereesa. Lady Moon knew when to be straightforward and when to be evasive. 

There was a stretched out silence following her blunt question. She realized her words might hurt Liadrin. Maybe that was what she wanted to do. Or maybe that was how it should be. Between the living and the dead.

“Alleria, did you forget about us? Vereesa said that she lost some of her-” She sounded so hurt.

“I will not ask anymore than this Liadrin,” Alleria turned her head just to look over her shoulder. Her blazing crimson eyes glanced at her once beloved, tears streaking down from her eyes to her cheeks, “ _What do you want with me?_ ” Alleria asked once more as she clenched her jaw.

Alleria turned her eyes back to the necklace once more. She couldn’t stand watching the tears that stained her cheeks like that. But she couldn’t do anything. There was no joy within this cursed state of hers. This unholy magic that coursed through her being that kept her active. If there was none to be found within herself, surely there would be none that others could find.

_Right?_

“I want to know what happened to you.” Liadrin asked, her voice slowly changing to more neutral.

Alleria scoffed, “I figured my sisters already told you that. There’s no point for me in repeating what they said.”

“I need to hear it from you.” Her tone was stern, like when they first met.

Alleria bit her lip. She didn’t trust herself right now, open and vulnerable, to speak. It was uncomfortable. It was easier when rage took her over. Her thirst for vengeance was easier to understand.

_Yes. Like how it should be. Like how she dealt with the rest of the living._

“What do you want me to say?” She could feel her eyes brimming as she set her gaze to the wall, “That I was amongst the first to fall that day? That I was tortured until that butcher brought my end after forcing me to see Vereesa killed while I was helpless and chained? That I still suffered afterwards when I was raised?!” Alleria snarled. Her body shook as both anger and frustration filled her.

Her eyes fell to the necklace as she clutched it tighter with each moment passed.

“That woman died that day, Priestess. She will never return.”

There was a lingering silence following her crude statement.

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Liadrin snapped back.

“Believe whatever you want. She died, and she won’t return.” Alleria answered as she gritted her teeth.

“I don’t know who you are lying to, to yourself or to me. I know you better than the other and I know when you lie, Alleria.”

Alleria meant every word she said. She truly believed who she was back then had gone forever. The Hero of the Second War. The Champion of the Alliance. The Captain of the Farstriders. She truly meant every word of it. Why would Liadrin insist that she was lying?

Her beloved always knew when she lied or hid something in life. The faintest flick of her ears, the slightest shake of her hand, the tiniest tilt of her head. Had she actually did so subconsciously? No, that wasn’t right. She did not lie. She truly believed in her own words.

“I care not what you believed in, Priestess. If that’s all, then-“

“How much has death robbed you, Alleria?”

Alleria closed her eyes as she tightened her jaw.

“Turn around and answer me.”

_Just let me go already, Liadrin._

“Answer me!”

Alleria turned around with a snarl.

“Everything! He took everything away from me! My life, my sisters’ life, my promises, everything!”

Liadrin winced at the sudden hostility Alleria showed but she kept her eyes on Alleria still.

“Each day I was sent out like a dog to kill more and more for the Scourge! I was forced to hunt down our former people, just to lessen Vereesa’s and Sylvanas’ torment before that butcher raised the people I killed! Even then it was never enough for him and I must suffer torture after torture until I looked like this!” Alleria screamed as let down her hood, giving a clear look of the scar that crossed her eye. Liadrin flinched.

That reaction was enough to confirm her skepticism. Liadrin was no different than the rest of the living. 

She was afraid of her.

Alleria tried to read her expression even more. What’s next? Will she pity her? Will she throw her away? Will she hate her for what she had become? How predictable the living were.

Liadrin was about to step closer and reached out to her before Alleria glared and snarled at her, “Stay where you are!”

Liadrin stopped as she lowered her hand. Her eyes were filled with concern and such sadness, something that Alleria had only seen once before. It was when she was so reckless and nearly got herself killed against the trolls. She swore back then to herself that she would never allow that look to appear anymore.

Another promise that she had broken.

“Tell me then, how can I help you?” Liadrin murmured softly.

Alleria’s gaze burned brighter, “I don’t _need_ your pity. I-”

“The last thing I will ever do is pity you, Alleria Windrunner!” Alleria flinched as Liadrin shouted at her.

Liadrin closed her eyes, her shoulder shook, as if trying to halt another stream of tears from coming out.

“Every day, ever since the First Gate fell, I mourned you. I mourned both Sylvanas and Vereesa as I saw their spirit was paraded around Silvermoon, forced to kill our people. I mourned Valeera when I realized she had departed for her own death to search all of you after keeping me safe for months. I mourned each and every one of you, but I fought on!”

Alleria felt something clenched within herself, and felt a soothing heat as Liadrin stepped closer.

“You and I, we both changed from what happened to us yet in the end, we are still the same person as we are.” Liadrin murmured as she tried to reach out Alleria’s hand.

The heat suddenly intensified as Liadrin’s hand attempted to reach hers. She took a step back, snarling at her.

“You just don’t understand it, don’t you? There’s nothing left of me of that woman anymore. Nothing left of the Hero of the Second War. Nothing left of that woman you loved so much. All that is left is this very being, which hungers for vengeance against that monster!” Alleria as she placed a hand on her chest.

“I’ve been robbed of everything I have, and what was left of it, I have to discard them for the sake of my sisters!”

Liadrin looked struck but recovered almost immediately as she pointed at her hand.

“Then why did you hold that still as if it meant something for you?”

Alleria immediately snapped her gaze to her hand, still clutching the necklace. Her hand gripped the cherished gift so tightly.

“You are still, Alleria Windrunner.” Liadrin stepped closer, “Beneath all of that, you are still the Alleria I loved.” 

“You haven’t lost everything, Alleria. The very fact that you hold that promise is the proof of that. Your sisters stood alongside you at this very moment. We are still here, for you.” Liadrin took another step forward, her face was so full of hope. Her hand reached up, attempting to cup Alleria’s cheek. Like how she used to in the old days.

The hand that hovered near her face radiated a heat that she couldn’t stand. It burned her. It was too hot. It only served to irk Alleria even more. The feeling to be spiteful was overwhelming as her eyes grew darkened. To prove that her word was true. That there was nothing of that woman anymore.

Alleria swatted her hand away as she bare her fang against her. Liadrin blinked as she stepped back.

“This,” Alleria gripped the gemstone so tightly, it cracked, “means nothing to me!” Alleria threw the necklace to the wall. The impact cracked the gemstone even further as the feathers were ruined as well. Liadrin’s eyes widened, in disbelief of what just transpired.

The room fell into another silence as Liadrin knelt down and picked up the necklace. Her eyes were inspecting the necklace so intently as her hand trembled. She could see that Liadrin was clearly hurt. But this was the only way. They could never reconcile. They were but beings that lived between different realms now. They could never stand together, like they used to be.

_This is what must be done._

“Open that door, Priestess. I will not waste anymore time entertaining you just because you cannot let go of your past.” Alleria sneered as she set her hood back in place.

She turned her eyes to Alleria with a glare. Alleria barely suppressed the recoil of the look Liadrin gave to her.

“Prove it.” Liadrin murmured, her voice was cracking.

Alleria raised an eyebrow as Liadrin set a scornful gaze at her.

“You want to get out of here? The only way you can get through that door is through me.” Liadrin spoke with such animosity it ached her being as she stood straight, blocking the door with her own body.

_This is how it should be._

Alleria’s eyes widened but she wouldn’t falter from her words. Her fist clenched as she glared at Liadrin, “Don’t think because of our past, I won’t strike you. I’ve said it to you before, that woman is gone forever. Stop being delusional!”

Liadrin tightened her jaw as she glared back at Alleria, “Prove it then. Strike me down and prove to me that Alleria Windrunner is truly gone.” 

-o-

Both Sylvanas and Vereesa were waiting just on the side of Liadrin’s office, leaning on the wall, before they heard a loud smack from within. Both of them winced immediately as soon as they heard it and the door was slammed open. Alleria didn’t seem to recognize their presence, fuming as she turned to black mist and left the building within the next second.

Sylvanas wasn’t really inclined with the idea of bringing Alleria here. Especially after she had asked to be left behind, even after knowing that Liadrin was still alive. But the very sight of Liadrin, who she had considered her sister-in-law, begging her to bring Alleria here and Vereesa who kept nagging at her about it, she finally relented.

Sylvanas stared at the disappearing black mist while Vereesa quickly made her way inside. Liadrin knelt on the floor, her hand clutching still at the promise that Alleria had given to her before everything went to a living hell for all of them. 

Sylvanas noticed a crack on it but Liadrin struggled to hold it in one piece, as well as keeping herself from breaking apart. There was a bruise on her right cheek. Her eyes were clear with disbelief and sadness, tears flowing free from the woman she knew that never even once let herself look weak.

Vereesa spared her a concerned glance.

_‘You can chide me all you want later in Undercity, but could you find her first while I comfort Liadrin?’_

Sylvanas heaved a heavy sigh, only giving a quick nod at her sister before leaving the room.

As she neared the exit of the spire, Sylvanas closed her eyes to search for Alleria’s presence. Alleria was trying hard to hide it but Sylvanas could still sense it. But it was getting fainter with every moment passing. She wasted no time to track it down.

It was with relief that she could still sense Alleria within Quel’Thalas. Her older sister seemed to have decided to stay still within one of the dark alleys on the corner of the city. As Sylvanas moved just around the corner to approach her, she was pulled and slammed to the wall.

“How could you do this Sylvanas?! Don’t play a fool with me that you didn’t understand what I meant back in Undercity!” Alleria snarled as she pinned Sylvanas.

Sylvanas sets her fiery gaze to Alleria, refusing to back down. She was about to return the favor. That was her intention, at least until she saw how conflicted Alleria was. Both anger and sorrowful looks were mixed on her face. She had never seen her sister like this before and it ached her.

“Because, she begged us to meet you.” Sylvanas answered, her voice almost down to a whisper as her sister slowly let her go.

“When we told her of what happened to you, she wanted us to bring you here. At first, I rejected the idea. That was until she begged me to do it. I couldn’t refuse her.” Sylvanas explained as Alleria slumped forward.

“I trusted you… How could you be swayed by such words alone?” Alleria’s voice cracked.

“Alleria… Liadrin is-”

“She is amongst the living! Even more so that she followed that damned Light that burned our people! That burned us!”

“Yet she accepts us unconditionally! Unlike the Alliance, unlike the others!” Sylvanas pulled her sister up to meet her gaze.

Alleria pushed her away, “Just how naive have you turned into, Sylvanas?! Ever since that mage lived within our city, you begin to trust the living now. You know full well how that had ended up for us in the past!”

“Have care with your words sister! I don’t trust the living, but I always trust our family! I simply tolerated the mage, knowing the potential she carried would aid us all when the moment to strike against him arrived!”

Sylvanas would never deceive her own sisters. It was but the truth that the mage was a means to an end. Another arrow in her quiver. She didn’t trust her. Not yet. But was she slowly becoming fond of her? Maybe. That was a question to be answered on another day.

The mage had shown kindness where she didn’t expect it. She had shown herself full of hope, however naive she was. She had shown herself to be a considerable force just by the raw power that was leaking from her very being.

Alleria scoffed, “A family? Liadrin isn’t-”

“She is, no matter how much you want to deny it!” Sylvanas snarled as she pushed her sister away, “Both of you were granted Minn’da’s blessing before she passed! You crafted that promise as you propose to her during the night of Summer Festival! You brought her to live with us in the spire after the Second War had ended!”

“She is not one of us, Sylvanas!” Alleria snapped.

“So? Are you going to kill her and raise her then, just so you can consider her to be one?!” Sylvanas shouted back.

Both of them were gritting their teeth, neither of them were willing to back down. Both of their faces darkened as the crimson eyes were burning brighter with each passing moment. Black smoke started to ooze from Sylvanas’ body while frost started to coat Alleria’s arms. It was fortunate enough that Vereesa finally appeared as she pushed them both back. 

“Enough! This is not the time for us to fight one another!” Vereesa said as she stood in the middle. Their power receded as they saw Vereesa fuming towards both of them.

Sylvanas was the first to relent before Alleria followed suit.

“If you want to blame anyone, Lady Sun, blame me! I am the one that pushed Lady Moon to bring you here.” Vereesa said as she stood with Sylvanas, looking defiantly at Alleria who couldn’t help but felt that anger returning.

“I don’t understand you! You showed me firsthand how to love someone so dearly and taught me how to fight for it, and now you discard it so easily without even trying! I thought I was supposed to follow you in those footsteps and now you just threw her away!”

Alleria only shook her head, “You don’t understand Vereesa. You don’t understand that the living will only stab us on the back one day! They must be kept away from us!”

“Whether we can trust the living or not, we need them to fight against the Scourge. That fact remained unchanged.” Sylvanas interrupted. Both of them turned towards her as she leveled a gaze to both of them.

“Liadrin is a formidable ally. She led the Blood Knight, an order of Paladin like the Silver Hand. Whether you like it or not, Alleria, we will work with her as she has pledged her support to us.” Sylvanas turned to Vereesa, looking for confirmation. Sylvanas couldn’t help but feel worried that Liadrin would pull her words because of that mess.

Alleria gritted her teeth but offered no counter remarks.

“She… kept her word. Even after what happened just now, she still pledged her support for us.” Vereesa answered.

Sylvanas sighed in relief. Alleria’s face held nothing but contempt to both of them.

The silence stretched on before Alleria finally broke it.

“I will need some time alone. Don’t follow me.” Alleria murmured as she pushed away from them both.

Both Sylvanas and Vereesa huffed as they watched Alleria vanish from their sight. What could possibly change her sister’s mind? When she first uttered the idea of reconnecting with the elves, she had no problem with it. Recently however, Alleria had turned even more zealous against the living. This won’t bode well for their future war, which will most definitely come.

It was only then that Sylvanas realized something.

“Little Moon, you… remembered something else?”

Vereesa blinked before she recognized what Sylvanas meant. Her head hung slightly as she spoke, “It… just came at me suddenly when I saw how hurt Liadrin was.”

“How much do you remember?” Sylvanas said as she laid a hand to her sister’s shoulder.

Vereesa shut her eyes tightly, trying to remember but she shook her head, “Only faintly, it’s still in pieces but I’m trying to knit it back together. I remembered when I asked both of them about their relationship and how I should proceed with mine. How they could still love each other despite how stubborn both of them were.”

Each of them endured different kinds of torture when they were nothing but a puppet from the Lich King. Their time under the Scourge wasn’t something they ever want to experience anymore. Vereesa had her fondest memory snatched from her and humiliated over and over again. Alleria had her being stripped bare until only hatred and anger was left.

Sylvanas herself, everytime she looked at her hand, an immeasurable amount of guilt overwhelmed her. For every ranger that fell that day and forcefully raised. For every person that she was forced to kill. For killing Valeera. All of them were because of her.

Even as they finally regained their senses, and many told her to not blame herself for what was done, it was undeniable that her failure led all of these people to suffer this accursed fate.

Sylvanas shook her head slightly, recomposing herself.

_Now is not the time to ponder about the past._

“Lady Moon?” Vereesa looked so concerned at her. Sylvanas set a small smile, though it seemed her sister’s concern grew even more.

“Let’s return. We still have much to discuss with Lor’themar and Rommath. We will let Alleria alone for now.”

-o-

_Several hours later_

“Now that we’re all here, there are a few things that both the Forsaken and the Alliance need to know.” Lor’Themar started when all of them had entered the War Room. Jaina was curious where the eldest sister had gone. She was quite sure she was portaled here for this meeting.

Jaina immediately objected to Sylvanas' request to portal her sister here. Alleria had shown her nothing but contempt against her. But it seemed the Dark Lady wasn’t easily swayed and she insisted. In return however, Sylvanas had promised that she would give her something in return when they had concluded their business here. She only said that it would be something in her interest.

Sylvanas knew well which button to push against her. It was almost terrifying that the Dark Lady knew a lot about Jaina just by hearing and observing her from Valeera’s and Anya’s words. When she accepted out of curiosity, Sylvanas proceeded to hold the bracelet which was given to her. Her eyes brimmed for a moment before it faded into its usual crimson red, like a flickering flame in the darkness.

When Jaina inquired what she had done, she only rushed her away to go to Undercity as soon as possible to gather the eldest sister.

Valeera’s face when she escorted her after leaving Alleria in that room was solemn. There was no sense of playfulness that the elf used to radiate. Jaina had the urge to ask but the uncharacteristic silence that the rogue exhumed was a sign for her not to pry too much into the detail. Though Jaina was not amused that the rogue lied to her about the Regent Lord wanting to meet her when he wasn’t there yet, the somber look of the rogue stopped Jaina from saying anything.

“A few weeks ago,” Jaina’s attention snapped back to the Regent Lord as he continued, “The Amani trolls had become more aggressive in their assault on Quel'Thalas ever since we were weakened. We still managed to repel them from time to time, but we need to end them soon unless we’re going to be chipped away from one week to another.” Lor’Themar stated as he pointed at Zul’Aman.

“While we have amassed a force to keep their army at bay, we need more people to infiltrate Zul’Aman and to bring Zul’Jin down, alongside their higher ups.”

“There was also another thing.” The Grand Magister intervened.

Rommah pointed at the Southwestern of Ghostlands, “Halduron just recently found out that Dar’khan Drathir, the betrayer, is still around. He is located around here, known as Deatholme.”

As soon as that name was mentioned, both of the Queens’ faces turned grim. Jaina knew about that name from Valeera from their idle chatter back in Undercity when the rogue was bored out of her mind and decided to talk with her. Her eyes glow brightly as her tone darken when she spoke of the man when Jaina inquired how could Quel’Thalas fall with Ban’dinoriel erected.

“You say that as if you had gotten rid of him before?” Vereesa inquired.

“We did, but for some unknown reason he had returned once more. We have to put an end to him once and for all before he planned another scheme to take us down again.” Rommath answered for her, glancing at Lor'themar before he continued.

“We don’t have many to split our forces. This is when we need both of you to prove your words for us. We need aid to deal with Zul’Jin and the Amani while the others go to end the betrayer once and for all.”

Sylvanas hummed as she cupped her chin. As Vereesa took a glance at her, Sylvanas raised one of her eyebrows as she looked at her sister curiously. Jaina studied the sisters’ faintest movement ever since she had arrived within Undercity. When they fell silent yet they kept their gaze to each other, they had to be communicating with telepathy. It was her deduction of course, but that would explain how they always knew each other though and hardly ever seen disagreeing before other people.

Jaina looked at the War Table once more. She obviously was given the same choice in this regard, whether she will go against the Amani troll within Zul’Aman or the Scourge within Deatholme. Another thought came to a pass as Jaina studied the map further.

The sisters once said, no one knew better than to fight the Scourge than them, and it was proven correct when the Alliance took down Naxxramas and secured the Archlich within his chamber with minimal casualties. There was also another thing to reconsider however. During the time when they were alive, the sisters surely knew better than the others how the Amani fought.

“We will-” Both Sylvanas and Jaina spoke at once. Both raised an eyebrow as they glanced at each other. Sylvanas gave an amused hum before gesturing to her to speak first.

Jaina cleared her throat as both Lor’Themar and Rommath looked at them curiously, “The Alliance can aid the campaign towards Zul’Aman, led by my aide. It will take a few days to round up the champions of the Alliance but I’m sure we can gather them. Meanwhile, I can assist those who would go to Deatholme and put an end to Dar’khan Drathir once and for all.”

All of the elves looked at her with surprise, except Sylvanas, who gave away a very satisfied smirk.

“Why wouldn’t you want to aid the campaign against the Amani alongside your forces?” Rommath asked, skepticism was clear in his tone.

“The forces of the Alliance combined with the Sin’dorei should be enough. My magic will be better utilized elsewhere in that moment.”

“You seem to think so highly of yourself, Proudmoore. What can a single mage do against the Scourge?” Rommath quipped.

Jaina furrowed her brows. As she was about to answer the Grand Magister, Sylvanas chuckled.

“Don’t be so stubborn, Rommath. You know how strong she is just from the arcane that bled out from her very skin.” Sylvanas’ gaze passed her playfully.

Rommath glowered as he glared at Sylvanas.

“Now now, there’s no need to give me that look. We are here to aid you, not cause any trouble to you.” She chided, her tone was sweet, just like back then when they first met.

It seemed however, that the Regent Lord wasn’t one to fall to it. He narrowed his eye towards Sylvanas, showing that he wasn’t in any mood for banter.

“The Alliance’s motive was clear when we talked previously,” Lor’themar said as he gave a glance to Jaina, “But not the Forsaken. What is it that you want with us, Sylvanas?”

Jaina noticed very faintly that Sylvanas lost her playful mood rapidly. Her eyes intensified slightly as her ears perked up.

“I’ve told you that I wish to aid Quel’Thalas as a fellow victim of the Scourge. Is that reason not enough?” Sylvanas retorted.

“I’ve known you for as long as I served Quel’Thalas. I may not know the Banshee Queen, but I always know who Sylvanas Windrunner was and how she worked. You are not one to simply give away things without a reason.”

The air grew tense as Sylvanas and Vereesa have no intention to reveal what they want as of yet. Jaina knew the answer of course, the one that they had given to her just a few days ago.

Total destruction of the Scourge.

But with how Quel’Thalas fare so far, it was understandable that Sylvanas would keep quiet about their intention. Quel’Thalas cannot wage a full-scale war against the Scourge. Not now. Not yet. They were ragged and their numbers were too few. If they were about to be plunged into another war, despite how much they want to exact their vengeance against the Scourge, they would surely step back from it.

It was then that the door was suddenly opened. The woman from before, who Jaina only knew by her title arrived. The Matriarch.

There was something off about her however. The air of familiarity that she willingly showed to the Queens was gone as she entered the room. She brought herself up as a staunch warrior. A Paladin, Jaina realized as a hum of Light magic poured through her.

_Was that small scar on her cheek there before?_

“I thought I was supposed to be briefed here. Why didn’t any of you summon me?” The woman directed her annoyance to both the Regent Lord and the Grand Magister.

Lor’themar pulled his gaze from Sylvanas to meet the Matriarch’s. He huffed before answering her.

“Liadrin, we have decided that you’ll go to Outland with the Blood Knights. There was a report over there that needed urgent investigation. We need you to-”

The Matriarch slammed her gauntlet to the table. Jaina flinched as she saw ire rapidly building within the woman.

“You promised me that I will deal with Dar’khan before Lor’themar, and I will not have that chance taken from me!”

Lor’themar was taken back slightly. Both the sisters seemed to have no intention to intervene either.

“Liadrin, you must understand that-”

“Dar’khan attempted to kill me and raise me alongside the Blood Knight to attack Silvermoon, Lor’themar. I’ll be damned if I’m not the one who will lead them to end his miserable existence! I will not be dissuaded from this one, not even from you!”

The Regent Lord set a hard gaze at the Matriarch, unsatisfied with her reaction. The woman didn’t step back either and seemed to be more than willing to carry out the fight on her own if she was forbidden. After a while, Rommath sighed before he spoke up.

“I’ll go to Outland alongside some of my magisters then. We have some concerns over there too. The reports of some of our magisters rebelling against Kael’thas is disturbing.”

“Rebelling against Kael’thas?” Sylvanas asked quickly as soon as Rommath finished.

Rommath nodded, “It wasn’t clear why they would do that but we will hold any judgment until we learn the reason.”

Lor’themar arched one of his eyebrows. He looked intently at the map for a moment before sighing.

“Fine then. Liadrin, you’ll march to Deatholme alongside your Blood Knight and the Forsaken,” His gaze fell to Sylvanas, who offered a quick nod, “While the Alliance and the rest of the Sin’dorei march to Zul’Aman. We will march within a week. I will send any information we have gathered as well. Will both forces be ready by then?”

“The Forsaken will march from Lordaeron. We will be ready by dawn.” Vereesa answered quickly.

“If I am allowed to anchor a portal here, the Alliance forces will march alongside the Blood Elves to Zul’Aman from Silvermoon.” Jaina asked as she raised an eyebrow towards Lor’themar. The Regent Lord looked at Rommath for an answer, which the Grand Magister gave him a relented sigh.

“We will lower the barrier just for a moment. We’ve given the Alliance a modicum amount of trust for now, Lady Proudmoore. I trust that you will not squander it.” Rommath answered, still glaring at Jaina still. She survived Alleria’s death glare on a daily basis. Rommath’s glare was nothing compared to her.

-o-

As the Forsaken and the Alliance had concluded their business in Silvermoon, Sylvanas found herself looking back to Liadrin from time to time as she was escorting all of them to the gate. Her sister-in-law was hurt not too long ago, yet she already mustered to put a tough front in front of the others.

“ _Liadrin, I-_ ”

“ _I will fight on, Sylvanas. There’s no need to worry about me. Look after her, will you?_ ” Her tone was somber. It was painful to hear Liadrin speaking like that.

Sylvanas gave her a quick nod, respecting Liadrin’s wish. She couldn’t blame Alleria for acting like that. Whatever torture that butcher had put through her sister, and what the living thought of them when they were fighting for their freedom, burned whatever hope remained within her to reconvene with the living.

“ _Please give her time as well, Liadrin.”_ Vereesa muttered next to her.

Liadrin shook her head as she took out the cracked necklace from her pocket. She gripped it softly, mourning the ruined gift that she kept on for so long, “ _Maybe.., it’s truly over for us. Maybe.., it’s time to move on._ ”

Both Sylvanas and Vereesa hung their head low as they heard Liadrin’s decision. Both of them saw how Alleria acted aloof for no reason when she met Liadrin again. How her sister had complained about how Liadrin treated her, yet showering praise all the same. How sheepish Alleria was when she asked the former priestess for a date. And both of them witnessed firsthand how Alleria gave that necklace to Liadrin back then. How the former priestess leapt to Alleria and kissed her as she cried with happiness beneath the moon that shone brightly over them.

_“But...“_

Sylvanas and Vereesa looked at her as Liadrin held the promise close to her heart.

“ _If both of you are willing to let me be your sister-in-law still, it would be my-_ ” Liadrin said as she spared them both a sad smile.

Vereesa had all but launched herself at the former priestess. Sylvanas shared a smile at her.

“ _It would be our pleasure, to have someone trust us so even after everything that happened.”_ Sylvanas said before she was pulled to Liadrin as well.

Liadrin’s touch hurts them both. Both Sylvanas and Vereesa realized this as soon as they were pulled into a hug the moment they met Liadrin. The Light scorned their very being. But that doesn’t mean it was enough to deter them from accepting Liadrin’s gesture of trust. Perhaps, one day, Alleria would withstand it like them.

What differed then however? What made them both more resilient to Liadrin’s touch compared to Alleria? Was there something else that somehow they missed?

As each of them said their farewell, both Sylvanas and Vereesa mounted their skeletal horse and began to march towards Undercity once more. Proudmoore and her bodyguard marched next to her. The Forsaken and the Alliance moved as one once more. The result was satisfactory for both the Forsaken and the Alliance. However the very thought of Liadrin and Alleria ending their relationship comes with this result, it tasted nothing like a win for both of them.

-o-

“Aren’t we forgetting someone?” Proudmoore asked as she rode alongside her as they entered Ghostland.

The eldest sister's absence had been too long at this point. As they departed from Silvermoon to return to Undercity, and Jaina’s forces back to Tirisfal Glade where ships were waiting for them to sail back to Theramore, she hadn’t seen Alleria at all.

Sylvanas obviously noticed who she meant as she took a glance to Anya. The ranger rode closer to her queen.

“Lady Alleria was last seen going to the Ghostlands, my lady.” Anya spoke from behind, “She insisted that none of us should follow her as well. She might still be around here.” 

“Though the number of the Scourge alongside the area has lessened for a bit, we still need to look after her soon.” Valeera chimed in.

Sylvanas hummed, “Then that’s where we will look her for before returning to Undercity.” Sylvanas’ gaze turned to Jaina, “If you wish to go ahead with the rest of your forces, Proudmoore, you will have no complaints from me.”

The mage pondered for a moment as she glanced behind to look at her troops. Their look was still fresh as there was no battle that needed to be waged. The battalion served to deter the elves from attempting pre-emptive strikes and the Scourge from engaging them.

Pained raised an eyebrow in curiosity, wondering what Jaina’s answer would be. It was clear that her men were unsettled as they marched alongside the Forsaken, but Jaina thought that this would be a good exercise. A good lesson to learn that they are an ally right now. But before she came to any conclusion, just as they were about to enter Ghostlands, the mage was alerted by something.

Arcane energy in the air was forcibly changed into something so potent. Yet at the same time, the magic felt awfully familiar.

“Wait!” The mage held her hand out. The rest of her forces immediately stand guard, preparing for any incoming assault. Sylvanas held out her hand too, alerting her troops to do the same.

Sylvanas looked around as she took out her bow, Vereesa following suit next to her. Jaina closed her eyes as she turned around, as if searching for something.

“What is it, Proudmoore?” Sylvanas asked after a while.

“I sense a strong flow of arcane magic just now. Not far from here.”

Vereesa furrowed her brow, “Is it a lich? There was no report of our rangers that a lich resides here.”

“No, it felt… different. Its arcane signature was… similar to yours.” The mage finally opened her eyes as she gazed upon the dead forest and pointed out, “It came from over there.”

Sylvanas, Vereesa, and Valeera followed the point of her finger and were perturbed. All three of them frowned almost immediately.

“Anya, you will take control of the battalion. Wait here for us to return.” Sylvanas said without even looking at the ranger. She had galloped ahead immediately without waiting another moment.

Vereesa rode next to Jaina, her tone was suddenly frantic like Sylvanas, “How accurate can you detect that?”

Jaina blinked, surprised at the sudden shift of the sisters’ mood, “A-Accurate enough. What is-”

“Good, tell your troops to stay behind and follow me. This is a bit too close to Deatholme so we have to stay alert. Valeera, guard Lady Proudmoore at all cost!” Vereesa said as she joined her sister who departed first.

Valeera had all but urged her to follow quickly. Jaina spared a quick nod to Pained, which her bodyguard didn’t seem to like the decision but stayed behind nonetheless. As both of them rode into where Jaina had pointed just now, her curiosity grew with each passing moment.

“What is it? Why did they suddenly panicked like that?”

“It is most likely Lady Alleria’s arcane magic that you just felt, and where she goes is heavily riddled with Scourge from the last report we had gathered. Our rangers cannot venture that deep and were forced to retreat.”

“And where are we going?”

There was a beat of silence, with only a sound of both undead and living horses’ hoof rapidly stamping the ground before Valeera answered with a melancholic gloom in her eyes.

“Home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is a bit shorter than my previous one, so hopefully it can go out earlier than the usual. Work is still encumbering my time to write. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Stay safe out there as well!


	11. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alleria having some talks with few people around her, and a word of warning to a certain mage.

As Jaina passed through the thick side of the decaying forest, there were a lot of Scourge ghouls around. Well, the remains of them that was. Many of them were punctured by arrows, she assumed both sisters already cut their way through these mindless undead as they charged ahead first. Curiously however, there were also ghouls who were frozen solid, with an arrow puncturing their bodies and skulls. Some were basically shattered apart. From how Jaina inspected briefly, they were frozen before they were destroyed like this.

_Who could’ve done this? Is it really Alleria?_

It wasn’t long until Jaina found an elven spire, abandoned and ruined, as she rode alongside Valeera. Both Sylvanas and Vereesa had already dismounted from their steed as they looked upon the spire itself.

“This is… the Windrunner Spire?” Jaina asked, her gaze never left the desecrated building. What seemed to be a symbol of magnificence was utterly ruined by the Scourge. She could feel her heart clenched as her gaze never left the building.

“Yes, this… is where my life begins. And for them as well.” Valeera answered. Her tone was somber as she dismounted. Jaina did so as well while following the rogue as she stepped on the stony path leading towards the spire.

As both of them approached the sisters, Vereesa was first to turn around and acknowledge her presence. At the corner of her eyes, she could see Sylvanas’ eyes darted around the spire, anger was clear as her eyes blazed and her face darkened. Who wouldn’t, really? To find their ancestral home desecrated and ruined by their enemies.

“Can you sense her still, Proudmoore?” The youngest sister asked. Jaina snapped her attention from Sylvanas to Vereesa as she asked. If she had noticed that Jaina was looking at her sister, she seemed to ignore it and to focus on the immediate matters at hand. 

Valeera walked alongside her and kept looking around. Her hand was always at the hilt of her dagger. While it may seem that the path of destruction they had wrought has decimated quite a number of the Scourge, Jaina would be a fool to think that was the last of them.

Jaina closed her eyes and tried to retrace the intense cold, shaped from the arcane energy that she felt not long ago. She furrowed her brows as she couldn’t sense where the magic originated anymore. The only thing she could say was that it was recent.

“I can’t feel it anymore, but the traces of the magic were still from around here.” Jaina opened her eyes as she met the exasperated gaze from the younger sister, not directed at her, “I never knew that Lady Alleria is a mage.”

“She isn’t.” Sylvanas answered as she beckoned all of them to follow her inside the spire.

Jaina raised an eyebrow as she followed. As they entered, Sylvanas left Jaina and Vereesa by themselves while instructing Valeera to follow her. Vereesa seemed to understand the continuous gaze Jaina sent from behind, wishing for more explanation.

“All of us elves had a connection to arcane, as many people would’ve known, but not all of us are gifted with the ways of using it.” Vereesa began as she settled down on a nearby chair. The inside of the spire was pillaged and ruined, but some of the furniture remained intact.

“When we were raised, Sylvanas and I were amongst those who were sent to Quel’Thalas, forced to kill our brethren by Arthas. Alleria however, was kept behind. It seems that Kel’Thuzad whispered to Arthas that he had a particular interest with her and wished to do some _experiments_ on her.” Vereesa’s face twisted as she uttered the name of those responsible for their demise and torture.

The word ‘experiment’ never seemed viler when the name of the lich was uttered in a single sentence.

“His cruel experiments resulted in Alleria capable of manipulating frost magic, more potent than any other mages I’ve ever seen. It was on par with Kel’Thuzad’s own. Those ghouls you saw which were frozen solid were most likely her works.” Her gaze turned towards the entrance, towards the forest where they had come through just now.

“How can that be? I don’t think it’s possible to even force someone to do such a thing.”

Vereesa shrugged, “Kel’Thuzad would refer to it as a gift from the Lich King, Ner’Zhul. Alleria once described it as forcefully turning the arcane in the air into her will and shaping it to her wish. Is that not how a mage cast their magic?”

“I… don’t think I ever try to be forceful when it comes to casting my magic. There are those who strained it beyond their capabilities, but it would hurt them more in the process.”

It was a lesson that most mages learned during their novice day. Those who had forced their magic beyond their limits would suffer the consequences. Especially those who tinkered with portal magic. Her master, Antonidas, always reminded her about that as well, being an eager disciple to learn everything she could.

“I see.” Vereesa hung her head low, “I… never asked Rhonin about that, not that I was ever interested in using magic in the first place either.”

Jaina chuckled, lightening the mood, “I’m surprised he didn’t talk your ears off about it. He is always so passionate if someone ever asked about how magic works.”

For a quick moment, Jaina could see a smile was about to form from Vereesa’s lips. That was until it was interrupted as Sylvanas had leapt in front of them and Valeera following suit.

“Alleria never entered the spire. She is elsewhere.” Sylvanas said as her eyes darted between Vereesa and Jaina. An inquiring look was clear on her face, but it seemed that she had decided to stay the question.

“How did you know?” Jaina asked as she stood up. She was sure that there were traces of magic casted around here just now. That clue enough should’ve said that Alleria was here, right?

Her eyes turned towards the entrance, as if looking for something.

“There was no sign of entry aside from us. No one had wandered inside the spire either and the dust kept collecting itself. The only sign that she was here was the marks of her greaves that led up to the spire as we arrived.”

Right, Former Ranger-General of the Farstriders. Of course she could track better than Jaina, especially if Alleria no longer used her magic after dealing with the Scourge as she moved here.

“Then, where is she?” Jaina asked.

Sylvanas seemed to already know the answer as she looked north, towards an abandoned village.

“There’s only one other place that I can think of, and it’s not far from here.”

-o-

Several meters north of the spire, Alleria stood in front of the tombstones of her mother and little brother. The cemetery was a little worse than wear, but there was no sign of them being desecrated or robbed for the Scourge. After all, the only remains here were ashes, buried deep underground.

“It’s been a while… Minn’da, Lirath.” Alleria spoke quietly.

The rampage that she had unleashed as she moved here was surprising, even to herself. So much anger and frustration were begging to be unleashed. Those ghouls which were on her path suffered their final and most painful death she can promise them. She cut them down with her swords, pierced their heads with arrows, and even shattered their very body after freezing them solid.

She couldn’t help but felt ashamed as she settled down her bow next to her. Thas’dorah was pried away from her when she was taken captive, and afterwards killed. She imagined that Arthas secured it away and took it with him as he fled to Northend since there was no sign of the family heirloom in Undercity after she and her sisters reclaimed it.

She had taken another bow as she had gained her freedom back then. The bow given to her by the Scourge was tossed away as soon as possible. It was a mockery to her, and she would have none of it any longer.

A sad chuckle escaped from her lips, “I’ve screwed everything up, haven’t I?”

“I failed to protect Quel’Thalas. I’ve lost Thas’dorah. I couldn’t do anything as Sylvanas and Vereesa died. I can only watch as Sylvanas was forced to kill Valeera, and now, I’ve messed up even further by hurting Liadrin.” Alleria said as she turned towards her mother’s tombstone.

She heaved a long unneeded sigh as she looked over her hand. The hand that struck Liadrin’s cheek. She was disgusted with it. This ‘gift’ had been nothing but the source of her misery. Unbeknownst to Sylvanas’ and the others, Alleria already paid a visit to her torturer, but it seemed that she was too early to see his miserable being formed once more. The urge to destroy that urn, and by extension his unlife was so tempting. But she knew better that it would incite Sylvanas’ ire.

Her sister had a plan against that lich, and it will be important when it comes to fighting the Lich King. Against that bastard.

She will however, have the privilege to torture him in return. To pay back whatever he had done to her with interest and will be the one to end his miserable treacherous unlife when the time comes.

“You must be ashamed of me from over there, aren’t you? That I couldn’t keep a single promise that I once made to you back then?”

There was nothing but a sliver of wind that replied to her. Her head hung low.

“I’ve tried so hard,” Alleria murmured, “Even now I tried still. To fight for Sylvanas. For Vereesa.”

Her hands clenched to a fist as her voice grew desperate.

“But how can I protect them from themselves?! They would open themselves to the living! They, who would prefer us to stay dead and forgotten forever! They, who had turned their back against us, even after we had fought alongside them for so long!”

Another wind blows over her ears, almost tickling her if her sense of touch wasn’t so muted with her undead body. She sighed as she drew her knees to her chest, closing her eyes as she felt vulnerable for the first time ever since she and her sisters founded the Forsaken. They needed strong leaders to keep moving forward. Showing her vulnerable side was not an option she could ever afford.

“I know I agreed that we should rejoin our former people when Sylvanas uttered the idea. But the very thought of working with the living terrified me, Minn’da.” Her voice turned into a quiet whisper once more.

“What should I do..? Should I give them a chance, again? After so many times they had proven themselves to be untrustworthy?”

The wind blows gently this time, leaves scattering all over the tombstones once more.

“Even now, I’m still lost without you. I always asked myself, what would you do if you are still here,” Alleria muttered under her breath, clutching her knees tighter.

“I’m sorry that I failed you so.”

She opened her eyes and turned to Lirath’s, sparing a small smile. Her little brother wouldn’t like it when he saw her like this.

“I’m sorry as well, Little Sun. That I couldn’t keep our family safe. That we cannot be reunited when we died that day. You must be lonely out there, right?”

Alleria wasn’t one to play favorites among her siblings, but even she couldn’t deny that Lirath had a special place in her heart compared to Sylvanas and Vereesa. When the news of his death reached her ears, she had all but leapt to the forest to hunt down any member of the Horde she can find by herself and killed them all in anguish and rage, with Sylvanas and Vereesa joining her after she had slew half of the camp.

A part of her blamed Valeera when Lirath died back then. But as she saw how heartbroken the young elf was, she knew it was wrong to blame her. Lirath had always been the light inside the family. His selflessness was one of his greatest virtues.

“Maybe, once this is all over, we will join you soon.” Alleria said as she stood up and brushed the leaves away from Lirath’s tombstone.

It was then that her ears flicked as sounds of faint footsteps were closing in, with one of them pretty much stomping the ground. As she turned around, her sisters, Valeera, and the mage had arrived.

“What are all of you doing here?” Alleria said as she knelt down and picked up her bow, slinging it on to her back before rising to full height. The mask that she had worn was returning gradually. She couldn’t afford to look weak in front of her sisters. Especially to that human.

Both Sylvanas and Vereesa didn’t look amused by her question but still they stepped closer.

“That should be our question. What are you thinking of going here? Don’t you read the report that the Scourge activity is thick here?” Sylvanas quipped at her. Her eyes were boiling with both anger and worry.

The urge to snap back at Sylvanas was there, but a gust blew between them. As if preventing her from doing so to her sister. As if… it was her mother’s will. Alleria sighed as her eyes darted back to the tombstones.

“It has been a while that we visited them.”

Both Sylvanas’ and Vereesa’s eyes turned towards the tombstones. Their ears drooped as they stopped in their tracks.

“Yes,” Sylvanas answered somberly, “That may be so.”

Alleria frowned however, at the additional guest her sisters bring. She practically glared at the mage, though she seemed to be used to her glare at this point. She didn’t mind Valeera. She was practically a Windrunner at some point in her life, even if her bond with Alleria wasn’t as strong as she was with Sylvanas.

“And what is she doing here?”

Sylvanas’ ears flicked as she glanced to the mage.

“Since you basically shut yourself away from me and I cannot sense you at all, only she can sense you.” Her gaze returned to Alleria, still annoyed.

Vereesa stepped closer as she landed her hand on Alleria’s arm, clasping it softly, “Can you please not do it again, Lady Sun? We are worried about you.”

Her ears drooped as she spotted the clearly concerned look from Vereesa and the aloof yet no less worried from Sylvanas as she scoffed. In her rage and anguish, she was blinded with the things that she still had. Regrets came in turn like waves on the seas. She nearly attacked Sylvanas in anger. She was seething at Vereesa for being so naïve. She should’ve realized that both of them wanted nothing but the best for herself.

That Liadrin was the best for her.

But why? Why can they trust Liadrin that much when she can’t? Her own partner in life. Her shining beacon. Her own goddess in physical form. Why can’t Alleria bring herself to trust Liadrin? Was it really the Light? Or was it really because she was amongst the living?

But it didn’t matter anymore, right? She had ended her relationship with Liadrin as she struck her face. The memory of that sun-blessed cheek which she caressed in every morning. She hurt her. There was no going back from there.

It was probably too late then. If she would begin to give a benefit of doubt to the living, she was too late with Liadrin. What she had done was unforgivable. Liadrin would’ve scorned her by now. Alleria had burned what was left between both of them as she ruined that gift she personally made for her. 

What’s done is done. She couldn’t look back now but to pave her path ahead. She still had her sisters here. Vereesa had started to trust again with the living once more, whilst Sylvanas assured her that the living was but a means to an end. Alleria supposed she could try how Sylvanas treated the living then. All these anger… it felt tiring. These lashings, she needed it tempered, lest she hurt her sisters one day.

A quick glance to the mage, who seemed to be lost with herself.

_If both Sylvanas and Vereesa had agreed that the mage is a benefit to the Forsaken, then the least I can do is to trust my sisters’ judgment._

“I’ll try.” Alleria murmured as Vereesa wrapped her arms around Alleria’s shoulders.

-o-

As each sister paid their respect to their family afterwards, alongside Valeera who knelt the last, Jaina stood away from them and leaned on a nearby tree. Her heart ached as she saw them grieving over the matriarch and the youngest of the Windrunner family.

Her mind wandered to that knowledge a bit. Valeera had shared a bit more with her day after day regarding Lireesa Windrunner and Lirath Windrunner. The Ranger-Matriarch and Little Sun. From how Valeera described the Windrunner’s mother, she would be a terrifying pair with her mother. She was sure she would get along well with Lirath if he had lived to this day.

Family was but a touchy subject to her. Her hands were sullied with her inaction that day. She could’ve prevented the killing blow from landing on to her father. She could’ve forced him to retreat by taking him away to his ships when Theramore was overrun. But instead she did nothing but mourn his body when it was already too late.

The memory still ached her. It haunted her every night as she tried to fall asleep. She had to convince herself that what she had done was right. It was for the sake of peace between the Alliance and the Horde. It wasn’t fair to put the blame of their ancestors to their predecessors, especially when they were used by the Burning Legion to do so.

The Horde wasn’t the enemy. The Burning Legion and the Scourge are.

_Hopefully the Alliance can understand that, one day._

“I can practically hear your brain is grinding with so much thought that it would hurt mine if I were you.” Sylvanas said, with amusement, in her tone.

Jaina jumped off her skin as the elf stood next to her. In her own pondering, she didn’t realize that Sylvanas had walked to her.

As she put her hand over her heart, thumping rapidly, she set a mild glare at the banshee, “Could you not give me a heart attack on such a basis? It was almost like you’re trying to kill me from it.”

Sylvanas snickered, “If that was my intention, I assure you that you won’t see it coming.”

Jaina sighed as she leaned on the tree once more. It was… surprising to see Alleria being affectionate to her sisters. Where she had seen Vereesa was caring to those who deserted the Scourge and Sylvanas giving them a sense of direction in the aftermath of their choice, all of her encounters with the eldest sister had shown her to be ruthless, harsh, and stern.

Then again, Jaina supposed, it was something that she should’ve expected from the woman known as Matriarch of War amongst the Forsaken. A title whispered amongst her soldiers.

As they’ve finished paying their respects, Alleria strode towards her. Her look was no longer hostile but it was still guarded. Alleria gave a small nod to Sylvanas. Sylvanas nodded in return and placed a hand on Jaina’s shoulder.

“She would like to talk with you a bit. We’ll give both of you some time alone.” Sylvanas said simply before she left with Valeera and Vereesa, leaving Jaina alone with Alleria this time.

Alleria tilted her head slightly, beckoning Jaina to follow her as she returned to the spire. Jaina was wary of the sudden mood change with Alleria. She had never given her anything but scorn towards Jaina. But nonetheless, it was an improvement.

“You must have been wondering why I loathe you so, right?” Alleria broke the stiffening silence first.

Jaina had some guesses of the possible reasons but can only settle for one answer that she had thought about a while ago. Rather than giving a retort, she would only nod at her.

“As you may have known, I fought during the Second War for Quel’Thalas. Until the hour of my death, I maintained the relationship between Quel’Thalas and the Alliance, insisting that the Alliance is worth keeping together. We won the Second War because of the unity between the kingdoms.”

It was no surprise that King Anesterian had intended to secede from Alliance after the forest of Quel’Thalas burned badly during the Horde invasion towards his kingdom. Kael’Thas told her as much when they were still back in Dalaran. If Alleria actually had gone towards the Dark Portal to chase the orcs, Quel’Thalas would no longer be among the Alliance.

“Many thought that I fought in the name of Quel’Thalas, but do you know what drove me to fight out there in the first place?”

The question would imply that she didn’t fight for Quel’Thalas, but for other reasons.

“To avenge your mother and your little brother?” Jaina answered with another question.

Alleria’s crimson eyes burned, “Yes. If I truly fought for Quel’Thalas, I would’ve taken my mother’s mantle in becoming the Ranger General that day. But I didn’t. What drives me to fight against the Horde is revenge.”

From that, Jaina confirmed Alleria’s ire towards her. Jaina stood when her father was cut down by the Horde whereas Alleria fought tooth and nail for her mother and little brother. That was as the same as she had spat on Alleria’s effort in driving and exterminating the Horde.

“When the Alliance opened the expedition beyond the Dark Portal, I’m all but eager to join.” Her fist clenched as she had stopped in her tracks. Jaina stopped abruptly a few inches before her.

A beat of silence passed before Jaina saw Alleria’s ears slowly drooped as she continued, “But then, I remembered there are people waiting for me back at home. My sisters, and my lover. I had sworn to my mother before she passed that I will take care of my family, and I have every intention to follow it. So I decided to back off and return home.”

A wind blew softly between both of them as Jaina understood every anger that was directed at her by the eldest sister. She understood it well. But she was wrong about one thing.

“You understand where I’m going with this, right?” Alleria continued. Her words were scathing.

Jaina gritted her teeth before responding to the former hero, “I never wanted it to be like that, Lady Alleria.” 

Alleria turned towards her slowly. Her gaze was cold and unyielding.

“This world has enough suffering and it needs to stop. The Horde from the Second War is undone. They’re but a group of refugees, looking for a place to live in Azeroth.”

Alleria walked closer as she uttered each word, “And look what these _refugees_ brought you. Another set of corpses.” Her face darkened with each step she took, “Your countrymen’s corpses.” 

She was so close to Jaina’s face that she could see the unholy fire behind those eyes, “ _Daelin Proudmoore’s corpse_.” Venom was dripping from her tongue as she uttered her father’s name.

Jaina scowled deeply, preparing another retort before Alleria took a step back and strode back to the spire.

“I may not know your father much, but I know a parent that cares for their child deeply and immensely. Your father is one of those kinds of parents, and you betrayed him. For what? To keep peace with those savages?” Alleria continued. Her words pierced true like her arrows.

Jaina snarled, “Those so called savages saved the world alongside me! Without their aid, this world would have succumbed to the Burning Legion! Is that what you preferred? To become a slave towards the Burning Legion than the Scourge?!”

In one quick motion, her body swept as dark mist swallowed her form. She bared her fangs as she immediately shifted her very being in front of Jaina.

“ _Don’t twist my word, whelp_.” Alleria seethed, her crimson gaze burning even brighter as her face darkened. Her arm emitting intense cold as it glowed glacial blue. Colder than the ice that Jaina conjured. Jaina’s frustration and anger weren’t doused however against such display of power. She was equally outraged.

After a short standoff between both parties, Alleria heaved a long sigh. Slowly, her power dimmed as she turned around once more as she walked towards the spire again, “I’ve lived long enough in this world to understand that peace is but a delayed war. As soon as the common enemy is undone, we will turn towards each other.“

“With all due respect, Lady Alleria. I still believe that the Horde and the Alliance can find a way to settle with peace, especially when the Warchief is a trustworthy friend of mine. We had fought side by side during the end of the Third War and we reached an understanding there.”

Alleria stopped and gave her a stern and chiding look, “And when he stepped down one day, what would you do if the new warchief sets his sight on the Alliance? Will you try to convince them again? Will you try diplomacy again?”

Jaina stared hard against her with a determined look, “Yes, I believe in it.”

Alleria turned around and looked at her once more as she folded her arms, giving a long look at Jaina as if inspecting her. The silence stretched on until she shook her head and turned towards where the rests were waiting for them.

“If you are truly sincere in helping us to avenge those who suffered under the Scourge, then I’ll scorn you no more.” Alleria said, her eyes fixed on her sisters and Valeera.

“But heed my word, Proudmoore.” Her voice was flat, as if she had given up trying to convince her, “For your own sake, discard that naivety, or it will be your downfall one day.”

Giving Jaina one smoldering glance, Alleria’s tone was cold and determined, “And I will not let you drag my family together down with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have outlined several future chapters but unfortunately, jobs are really consuming my time to write in time. I can no longer be sure about when will the next go out but I have every intention to finish this story.
> 
> I can't really stress enough to say thanks for all the kudos, comments, and bookmarks so far. I'm really happy to see that others enjoyed my work. Stay safe everyone!


	12. Reprieve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A moment of rest, before the upcoming battle.

Days had been spent as Jaina finalized Theramore’s needs and her plea to call for Alliance’s champions. When Jaina sent a message to Sylvanas if she should also gather Alliance’s champions towards Deatholme, her reply was quick. The additional reinforcement was always welcomed, but she doubted that any will join in. The Forsaken was still seen as a reluctant ally after all this time, and so did the Forsaken view of the living. Sadly, her words turned out to be true. A day after the word was sent, many answered and all of them only answered to aid the elves on their march against Zul’Aman rather than the Forsaken against Deatholme.

Many of the Forsaken were skeptical with her just as well, but a few had gradually warmed up to her presence. Especially traders of whom she had talked with previously. It was a simple act of lending her aid, to promote their work and to supply them with materials from all over the place. They looked genuinely confused when she gave them the offer but deeply appreciated it in the end.

Some of her people in Theramore had expressed both concerns and curiosity over their relatives within Undercity. Were they truly themselves once more? Were they truly freed from the Lich King’s grasp? Such questions were uttered again and again, Jaina had answered them as much as she could.

The Forsaken was truly hurt when their supposed allies turned a blind eye towards them. Even resented and hunted them down for assuming they were part of the Scourge. She reassured them that she was fine when she lived with them and her words caused some to seek out to meet with them after hearing her answers. Such things however needed to wait. She needed to talk with the Queens first regarding this.

The Queens were still wary of her actions thus far but slowly Jaina managed to gain a modicum of trust between them. Alleria had said to her that she will scorn her no longer but she’ll keep a close eye on her. Vereesa held on to her words and opened herself slowly but surely when they were talking about Rhonin. She could see the youngest sister still loved him so, but she was aghast at the idea of meeting him again, for reasons she won’t utter just yet.

Last but not least, the Banshee Queen herself. Oddly enough, Jaina found the woman… interesting to talk with. Beneath that snarks and grins, Sylvanas hid something that Jaina had intended to find out. She held onto her masks pretty well, depending on who she was talking to. To the Alliances, she would portray herself as a cold and pragmatic warrior she had always been known ever since she was alive. To her people, she would show herself as an example to follow alongside her sisters. A steady pillar that supports its people in dire times. To the blood elves, she would show sympathy even at the face of distrust that her former people gave to her.

And to Jaina, she was different once more. A curious woman, capable of both barbs and charms at the same time. Capable of harsh words and comfort in the same sentence. She was an enigma even until this very moment. The most curious parts of all, she found herself oddly… enjoying her presence. Those infuriating smirks. Those sways every time she walked ahead of her.

Jaina shook her head. That was not something she should’ve been thinking. This was about people of Theramore and the Forsaken. She shouldn’t get distracted. She knew better to place the priority of her people than her own sense of curiosity that kept bubbling whenever that annoying banshee kept appearing in her head. The Alliance, the people of Theramore, and the Forsaken relied on her greatly.

And the Horde.

_“And when he stepped down one day, what would you do if the new warchief set his sight on the Alliance? Will you try to convince them again? Will you try diplomacy again?”_

The eldest sister’s words echoed within her mind ever since they had left the spire that the sisters had sworn they’ll reclaim one day. When the Scourge was undone and unmade.

Thrall wouldn’t do that, would he? He had been a close ally to her ever since the Third War. The Warchief had led his people with his words and promises kept true. There were times that they couldn’t find a solution to some situation, such as the Horde continuous lumbering. Jaina had tried to mediate between each other party but it came out fruitless as both sides won’t even agree to compromise.

Jaina shook her head. The Horde wasn’t the concern right now. The Forsaken had stopped their talk with the Horde altogether from what Shaw had reported. Their ideals clashed too deeply and the sisters had decided to stop their effort and chose to rely on Jaina’s support. They’ve yet to fully trust her but they were willing to let her aid the Forsaken nonetheless.

Jaina hummed as she picked a paper, thinking of words to propose to the Queens for meeting up the people of Theramore and the people of the Forsaken. As the quill was about to reach the paper, a quiet murmur, almost too soft for her ears to hear was spoken behind the door leading towards her office. Jaina furrowed her brow as curiosity filled her being. She took careful steps towards the door, leaning over to it quietly. It was Pained.

_‘I… wanted to apologize for what I said in the first place back then.’_

There was a bit of a stretch of silence before another voice spoke, almost curtly.

_‘What? About saying that Lady Sylvanas raised me?’_

It was Valeera. From her voice, it was clear that she was not amused. The young elf had been avoiding Pained ever since their first interaction weeks ago.

_‘Yes. I... can see that you hold her in very high regard, and I… overstepped by insinuating such a thing. ’_

Jaina held her breath. She leaned closer and placed her ear towards the door.

 _‘It… It’s alright. I guess I should get used to people assuming about it.’_ That was the first time she had heard Valeera sounded… at loss of words. The rogue seemed to never have any shortage of comeback when she was talking to her.

 _‘I hope… that I could get to know you better, maybe over a drink someday. I hear you’re going back with Lady Jaina soon.’_ Pained seemed to realize something as her breath hitched for a moment, _‘I’m sorry, can you still drink?’_

 _‘Don’t worry, I’ll keep her safe. And…’_ Valeera’s voice grew slightly more nervous as the conversation went on.

_‘I’d like that. Yeah, but I will need some really strong drinks before I can taste anything. Being dead and all of this changed a lot of things for me.’_

Jaina felt warmth all over her cheeks, feeling giddy at the thought of her stern and relentless bodyguard opening up to someone else, _Valeera_ of all people. She retreated back to her seat and to continue back to her proposition. She didn’t need to know what more they were talking about. The day was still long, she will have until evening before she’ll return to Undercity.

As evening set and the paper was finalized alongside other trade deals that she had approved, Valeera entered her office, signaling the time for her to return to Undercity. The elf raised an eyebrow as she heard Jaina hummed. She was in a good mood after hearing the short conversation between them.

“Seems like something got you amused, Lady Proudmoore. Should I be concerned?” The fallen elf asked as she leaned on the wall.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Jaina said as she waved her hand, sealing the last paper with a touch of her magic. “I’m just glad that things are going well lately.”

The fallen elf folded her arms and raised her eyebrow in suspicion, “Should I be wary of these… _things_ that are going well?”

“Think nothing of it,” Jaina said as she put the letter back in her pocket within her robe. “I would recommend Chen’s special brew in one of the bars for strong drinks though. Pained liked that one.”

Valeera’s eyes widened for a quick moment as Jaina flashed a grin towards her companion.

“I hope you could keep a secret my lady.” Valeera said as she pursed her lips.

Jaina smirked as she weaved a portal towards her room within Undercity. The fallen elf passed through first as she palmed her face with her gauntlet.

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

As she passed through her portal, her eyes widened slightly. Her room had changed a lot since the last time she was here. Her eyes wandered around her room and noticed that the room was cleaned and sorted out properly. Her desk was recently polished, the sheets on her bed were changed to a new one, made of silk which looked pretty expensive from the looks alone, compared to the last one. A new carpet was placed at the center of the room and a small hearth was placed within, with several neatly cut logs placed on the side. A new and finely crafted wardrobe had replaced her old one.

“Well, if I don’t know any better, you’re on our good side now my lady.” Valeera said with clear amusement in her voice.

“I’m not sure what I-” Then it struck Jaina’s memory. So was this what Sylvanas meant with her favor?

“It’s suffice to say that the Windrunners are taking a liking to you my lady.” Valeera's tone lowered down, a careful one, “I truly hope you won’t squander it.”

The thought of it immediately unnerved her. She knew better not to do anything which might upset them after what she had achieved. She ran her hand over the new gifts she had received. It was a simple gesture, but she appreciated it immensely. The urge to meet the Banshee Queen grew even stronger, both because of her intention to talk about the Forsaken and the living alongside to thank her for this generous favor.

She entered the Royal Quarter to find it empty, much to her dismay. Only two Dark Rangers were stationed within. Kalira and Alina. Both the elves spared her a quick glance as they gave her a quick bow. The rangers were amongst those who were still very wary of her.

_‘All of our death and the time we were raised were… traumatic, my lady. We were shunned and hunted by the living more than the others as we were sent forward alongside our Queens to the frontlines when we served the Scourge. Even some of the Forsaken scorned or feared us, for we were the reason why they died and were raised.’_

Anya’s word was sincere. Her time spent with the young ranger reminded her back then that she once saw her when she first visited Quel’Thalas with Kael. She was the young ranger with blonde hair, a cheerful smile adorning her face when she greeted her. She gritted her teeth to learn how much she had changed after the Scourge slew her and forced Sylvanas to raise her.

“Are the Queens around?” Jaina said. If Sylvanas wasn’t around, she could talk to Vereesa, or Alleria in that matter. Expressing her gratitude remained on Sylvanas alone however.

“Lady Alleria and Vereesa are in the Plaguelands at the moment, Lady Proudmoore. They were overseeing the constructions of the Bulwark.” Kalira answered her.

Jaina furrowed her brows. Why did they leave out Sylvanas’ whereabouts?

“And Sylvanas?”

Both rangers glanced at each other for a moment. Their eyes landed on Valeera who stood behind her. The rogue gave them a nod before they relented the secret they were trying to keep.

“The Dark Lady is on the surface, my lady.” Alina answered with a hint of hesitation in her voice.

Jaina narrowed her eyes and glanced between the rangers. Why did they seem to be averse in answering her?

“Thank you.” Jaina bade them farewell before turning a curious look to Valeera. The rogue followed her, posing an innocent look on her face.

“What is she doing up there at this hour?” Jaina spoke as they walked towards the elevator to reach the surface. Usually, Sylvanas would be at her office or her chamber. Not that she was keeping track of the Banshee Queen, of course.

Valeera shrugged, “That’s something you should try to figure out, my lady.”

“You know why she is up there, aren’t you?”

Jaina swore she can see the smirk beneath that mask as Valeera answered, “I’ve lived with Lady Sylvanas ever since I was a child, my lady. Of course I know what she’s doing, but it will be more interesting for me that you find out what she’s doing yourself.”

Jaina grew even more curious as she didn’t realize that she hastened her steps towards the elevator. As the contraption arrived, she stepped in but not Valeera. The rogue gave her a wave of her hand.

“You are not coming?”

“I’ll leave the two of you alone, my lady. The night is… comforting.”

-o-

The night sky was clear tonight. One of her old habits that she carried still with her, despite how much she tried to bury it. As she sat on top of the highest tower amongst the ruins, her thoughts wandered a lot more than it used to be ever since she had seen Silvermoon being rebuilt. Remnants of its destruction were still apparent, but nonetheless it was steadily progressing to be better. Different, but better.

What could’ve happened if none of them fell that day? What if she was there to aid Alleria in the first place? What if she had all but ignored Anasterian’s order to stay behind and marched alongside Vereesa on the Second Gate? What if they had just listened to that human when he had interrupted the meeting between the higher-ups in Quel’Thalas, about his warning that the land was lost?

“Sylvanas?”

She was startled as she turned around and scolded herself for not bringing any weapon but a dagger on her boots. The human peered at her curiously as she had arrived at the top of the stairs amongst the abandoned ruin of Lordaeron. How could she not hear her footsteps? Did she somehow use a spell to sneak up on her? No, that can’t be it. There were no traces of arcane being casted. As muted as her senses towards arcane, she could feel it, even almost faintly.

The answer would be that she had pondered too much that she didn’t recognize her arrival. Another weakness that she should purge as soon as possible.

“Lady Proudmoore, to what do I owe your presence tonight?” Trying to mask her surprise, she kept her voice even as she returned her gaze upon the moonless sky.

“What are you doing out here?” She stood next to Sylvanas, arcane bled out from her very skin in steady waves. If she was still alive, she would’ve been entranced by the sheer amount of it. 

One of benefits within this curse was that her thirst for arcane was quenched with her death. She had heard of those who succumbed to the lack of arcane which led to their madness. A fate more cruel than death.

She had considered staying quiet. She had no need to answer the woman. But something within her spoke before she had the thought considered, “Even I need a moment of reprieve from this dark and bleak world I’ve been subjected to, my lady. It has been a tiring week for both of us, is it not?”

The quiet silence spoke for both of them before Jaina sat next to her. Sylvanas raised her eyebrow as she saw the mage heaved a long sigh, placing her staff on the ground.

“I’ve never seen any of you rest before. Even some of your people rest every now and then.”

Sylvanas chuckled, “My people may need it, but as their leader, I cannot be complacent. My sisters as well. A weary leader that stood amongst its people won’t really inspire confidence.”

“All three of you are the pillars of the Forsaken. If you ignore your well-being, your sisters will be having a rough time too.”

Sylvanas scoffed, “You’re late several months to talk about ‘well-being’, Proudmoore. The dead no longer concern themselves with-“

Jaina rolled her eyes, “You know what I mean, Sylvanas. You still need rest, despite how much you try to say otherwise. Your people have stated that they need it, even in their state of undeath every now and then.”

Sylvanas frowned. The constant needling the mage sometimes irked her. Who was she to say where her limits were? She had no right to talk about it, especially someone who was still amongst the living. She wouldn’t understand it.

“The same can be said to you otherwise.” She jabbed back, coming off more lightly than she had thought, “You always need to be reminded to eat, both in Theramore by your bodyguard or in here by Valeera or Anya. Even the coffee you requested almost always went cold before you drank it.”

“Wh- How did you?” Slowly her cheeks turned to rosy pink before she buried her face between her knees as she groaned and hugged her legs, “Valeera can’t keep her mouth shut, can’t she?”

A small victory that she could savor for shutting the mage. Valeera’s mundane report was surprisingly beneficial. A smirk covered her lips.

They sat in silence for a long while again. Neither of them spoke of anything. Sylvanas found herself… oddly comforted with the presence of the human beside her. The small bantering the mage offered, it was… pleasing. The mage had yet explained why she was here, but Sylvanas wasn’t in a hurry either to figure out what she was doing out here as well. She wondered idly within the comforting quietness about why the mage’s company offered her a semblance of tranquility she never thought she would ever obtain again after she was raised.

She could only feel rage, hatred, and sorrow back then. Cursing her murderer, the butcher of her kingdom, with every last of her being as he had raised Vereesa and Alleria as well. It was a horrifying sight. Their screams as they were raised as banshees still rung in her memory every now and then. It was a mark of her failure.

Was it the thrum of arcane that kept flowing from her that calmed her down, even so slightly? Or was it simply the kindness that she offered to the people like her? Those who were raised to undeath?

She was genuinely surprised when the mage offered herself to assist the assault on Deatholme. Sylvanas never thought she would do that but she masked her surprise better. What was her intention for doing so? She could’ve just sat back and let her champions fight against the trolls within Zul’Aman. There was no need to endanger herself either.

Sylvanas didn’t realize that she kept glancing at her every now and then as her mind floated towards the person next to her. The mage didn’t seem to miss her pondering as she called to her. 

“Sylvanas?”

She blinked a few times before her mind settled back to the present, “My apologies. My thoughts wandered about.”

“What are you thinking, if I may know it?”

 _No, you may not._ That was the word that Sylvanas should’ve uttered to her. Who was she to meddle in her regrets? But the quiet voice inside of her murmured softly. The part that she had thought but dead. To give her a chance. To talk.

“I’m thinking… of Quel’Thalas. Of how things were back then. Of how things I could’ve done to prevent all of this before it occurred. Of everything I should’ve done but didn’t due to my foolishness.” She started as she murmured softly.

“Time and time, regret and guilt came to me in waves. I know that the others insisted that they wouldn’t blame me for what had transpired, but in the end, it falls to me who failed them.”

She raised right hand, gauntleted claw towards the sky. Stretching it and curling it into a fist.

“I was supposed to carry my mother’s legacy. The legacy of the protector of Quel’Thalas. One who kept the kingdom and its people safe. But my legacy was riddled with one failure after another. I failed to keep my sisters alive. I failed to keep my people safe. I even struck down those that I swore to protect.”

The mage listened quietly. She hadn’t interrupted her at all. Sylvanas lowered her hand towards her face, opening it slowly. How she remembered how bloody it was when she was forced to hunt down her former people like a deer fit for skinning. Her body was returned to her after her sisters hunted hundreds of innocents as a fee for her own body. She still remembered the sickening smile he gave to her as her sisters accepted that offer. For her sake.

“Now, my former kingdom bore a mark from its butcher. The forests were no longer safe and sound to move about. Terrors and destruction filled its wake. All of it, because I failed them.”

Sylvanas chuckled darkly as she remembered her words which she imparted to the mage a few weeks ago, “How hypocritical of me, isn’t it? I told you not to keep your head on the past, yet here I am still stuck with it.”

The mage listened solemnly. Her lips pursed into a thin line as soon as Sylvanas finished talking. Before long, the mage stared at the sky and spoke softly, “There’s nothing wrong with thinking back about the past. But I believed at what you said that one shouldn’t be consumed by their past so much. The future holds many answers for us as well.”

Her eyes shone in the middle of the night as she glanced to Sylvanas with a small smile on her face, “What’s done is done, I believe that all we can do is to try to fix what was done or undone by others towards us and keep moving forward. You may have failed to protect Silvermoon, but now you’ve claimed a kingdom. You liberated the people who were forcefully bound to the Scourge and founded the Forsaken. You freed them and led a kingdom alongside your sisters.”

Sylvanas’ eyes glowed as it widened while she glanced back at the mage. She knew not what happened to her but she couldn’t sway herself from that gaze. That blue colored eyes captivated her. What had she done to her? Her words somehow soothed her being. The regret, the guilt that welled up within her was slowly dispersing.

_To move forward, is it?_

She hadn’t thought about it. What would she do, once she finally put an end to that monster. What she and her sisters would do. The Forsaken was her people, but she had always seen them as if they were arrows to her quiver. They who were willingly led to fight against the Scourge in the name to claim their vengeance. _Her_ vengeance.

She blinked a few times as her thoughts gathered itself once more. The laments now were replaced with a sense of curiosity. The woman beside her was a woman of feats. She built a city out from nothing. She managed to fight against the Legion which she felt helpless against as Archimonde walked through that portal and destroyed Dalaran in one fell swoop.

She was the proof of someone who moved forward from nothing. Sylvanas herself… as well.

“Tell me, Proudmoore.” Sylvanas said as she spoke flatly once more, “If you could rewind back time, before all of this happened, what would you do?”

The mage looked curious with the sudden question as she tapped her chin and hummed. Sylvanas could basically see that something within that beautiful face was thinking hard of her answers. It didn’t take long to answer her question.

“I… would ask Dalaran to aid Quel’Thalas before he invaded your kingdom.”

Once again, the mage managed to throw her off with her answer. Sylvanas couldn’t comprehend that answer. Why would she choose to do that? There were so many answers that she could’ve chosen. Why would she choose to protect Quel’Thalas, a kingdom she knew not much about other than her interaction with Kael’Thas.

“Why? You could choose to stop him from purging Stratholme. You could’ve chosen to prevent him from getting that accursed sword. You can even save Lordaeron before the kingdom falls to ruin. Why would you choose to aid Quel’Thalas?”

“Because it will be futile.” Her reply was simple, as if she had thought everything.

Before Sylvanas could ask again, she continued, “Arthas was the crown prince of Lordaeron. I hold no sway to stop him. I don’t think I can after what I saw what he had done at Stratholme. I see the darkness within him that day, and I know he’s no longer the man I loved anymore as I saw what was left of the city when I returned.”

“But,” Her hands clenched to a fist, her look was determined.

“I’m sure we can help Quel’Thalas to repel the Scourge. I know that with Kirin Tor’s help, we can stop Dar’Khan from betraying your kingdom and then put a stop to Arthas’ madness before he went too far.” Her heart beat in a rhythm that told her no lies was hidden behind those words.

Sylvanas smirked, amused with the woman beside her. She always managed to find a way to surprise her, “You are a curious being, Proudmoore.”

The mage smiled as she shrugged, “I’m a mage, it comes with it. And please, call me Jaina.”

Another tug of smile formed on her lips as the mage smiled brightly in return, “Very well, Jaina.”

They spent another few moments of quiet solitude before the mage eyed her with curiosity. 

“And what would you do, if you could rewind time?” As she uttered the question, she hid a yawn as she covered her mouth with her hand. The night was still long, but the human mage beside her looked too weary to continue to stay beside her. She must’ve been. Days she had spent in Theramore, she was determined to sort out any details regarding the upcoming battle and made sure nothing would be amiss. She also needed her rest.

Sylvanas huffed with amusement as she glanced at the mage for a moment and spoke softly, “Rest, Jaina. You need it.”

Though the mage had every intention to keep pestering her with questions she knew she wouldn’t be able to resist to answer, she eventually decided that it was really something she needed.

“I’m holding you for that answer. And… thank you, for your gifts.” The look on her face at that moment was something that Sylvanas would hold on to for a while. Smiling, with a red flush on her face.

“I know not what you mean, Little Mage.”

She smirked in return, “Of course.”

Sylvanas’ eyes were fixed on Jaina all the time as she descended the stairs, preferring to walk rather than to immediately Blinking towards the comfort of her room. Her mind pondered as she looked upon the sky for a long moment. For an answer for Jaina’s question.

Eventually she settled for an answer which she knew her living self would answer the moment she was asked.

_I’d like to meet you, before everything that happened._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Managed to update before the end of the year. I just hope in 2021 I can update this more frequently.


	13. Display of Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battle of Deatholme

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to make an update schedule. Hopefully things will be more frequent in the future

“Are you sure this will work?”

“What makes you think it won’t?”

“Seems like an obvious trap to me.”

“Well, it’s because you’re smart and he is not.”

A week had passed since their visit to Quel’Thalas and the plan to lay an assault against Deatholme was made. The stronghold was not magnificent by any stretch, but it was a formidable location. Sylvanas glared at the map as she remembered Thas’alah was cut down and its land was desecrated. In its wake, the Scourge built the base to start their path of destruction towards Quel’Thalas from there.

After portaling her forces towards Silvermoon and marching alongside them to Zul’Aman, Jaina rejoined the Forsaken and the Blood Knight forces in Tranquilien. True to her word, she will lend any assistance she can offer. Some insight as well perhaps.

“Dar’khan may not be smart, but he’s still a crafty opponent, sister.” Vereesa chimed in as she entered the tent.

With the information that she had gathered and the joint effort between the Farstriders and the Dark Rangers in thinning the Scourge forces within a week, Deatholme was not fit to fight an assault, especially a combined one.

_ Dar’khan has always been an incompetent man. It is no surprise that he is also an incompetent commander. To spread out the Scourge around the Ghostlands would be easy picking for the rangers. _

The Scourge primary strength came from their unnatural power and their numbers. By spreading them thin, the joint forces were capable of getting rid of any lingering Scourge that was tasked to raid the vicinity around Deatholme. With each of them cut down, Dar’Khan seemed to be frantic as he immediately sent more and more to find out where the missing forces he sent out, only for them to suffer the same fate again and again. Though Vereesa suspected a ploy behind this, Sylvanas and Alleria were sure that this was simply Dar’Khan incompetence.

They had been there when the man executed before their very eyes after all, after he failed to accomplish a task Arthas had given to him. She only wished that he would stay dead, but alas Arthas gave him another chance.

Sylvanas knew not the details of the task which was given to him until recently. Liadrin had told her in detail. Dar’khan apparently had tried to turn her Blood Knights into Scourge’s Death Knights as ordered by Arthas himself. It was fortunate enough that her sister-in-law managed to survive and defeat him. To say that she was angry was an understatement when she knew he had risen once more.

“Why should we pull the Scourge from Deatholme by feigning retreat? The combined forces of the Forsaken and the Blood Knight seemed enough to lay waste to the base.” Jaina asked. 

“Our primary objective is to kill Dar’khan, not to decimate Deatholme. This is something that we need to remember. We lacked siege weapons as well at this moment.” Sylvanas gaze turned to Jaina for a moment as she raised a brow, “Unless the Alliance is willing to lend us some?”

Jaina shook her head firmly, “There’s not enough time to prepare siege weapons within a week. We’ll need more time to prepare for it.”

Not that Sylvanas was without alternative. The Blight was almost ready, but they were fighting alongside the Blood Knights. Too much risk to use the Blight here, and it will certainly unnerve her living allies. It was an indiscriminate weapon, after all.

_ We can burn Deatholme down with spells, but it would be too much of a risk to burn the forest as well. How infuriating. _

Sylvanas shoved her annoyance away as she brought several pieces to the front of Deatholme. “Dar’khan is a coward and an opportunist. If we showed to him that we have overwhelming forces against him, he would escape at the first sign of defeat.” She said as she pushed those pieces towards Deatholme, plucking a piece that resembled Dar’khan away from the table, which was placed at the center of Deatholme.

Jaina hummed as her gaze darted between pieces. With a quick wave of her hand, the pieces were reset how it was before Sylvanas had moved them.

“But bait him to thinking that he can stand a chance against us,” Sylvanas took the piece from Deatholme and pulled them towards the combined forces. As two other pieces of the combined forces waited on the sides to welcome the forces from Deatholme, she pushed a small piece towards the undead base, “He’ll send out his forces and we can sneak in easier to deal with him personally.” Sylvanas ended as she toppled Dar’khan piece with the small one.

“Who will lead the squadron then?”

Sylvanas stood straight as she folded her arms, “I will, alongside three other dark rangers.”

The frown that the human gave to her spoke clearly that she disliked the idea.

“Are you sure that is wise? Dar’Khan is a former magister, fighting him with rangers alone doesn’t seem to be the wisest idea.” Jaina countered.

“That’s what I’ve been saying to her as well.” Another sound chimed in the tent as Liadrin entered.

Vereesa sighed as she glanced around the table and the pieces scattered on the map, “I won’t lie by saying this isn’t personal, but we also need stealth to reach him there. None of the Blood Knights could manage such a feat as they were meant to stand in the front lines. The Farstriders are needed to support them. Mages are also important to stay within the back lines, to repel their necromancers.”

Liadrin nodded at Vereesa assessments. There was a clear displeasure when Sylvanas uttered the idea to her sister-in-law, but she conceded since the plan was better than hers, which didn't guarantee of Drathir's defeat but Deatholme instead.

Her sister stared at Jaina, “I will lead the Forsaken side during Sylvanas’ absence. You’ll fight alongside us, Proudmoore. You hold a prominent part in this battle and we’ll guard you with everything we have.”

The animosity she used to hold against the mage seemed to have slowly dwindled from time to time. When Sylvanas asked why the sudden change, her little sister only said that they had made a promise to keep a secret. Sylvanas understood and didn’t pry any further than that.

Sylvanas glanced at the Jaina once more but she had kept her frown still.

“I take it you still have objections, Lady Proudmoore? Or any suggestions you might add?” Sylvanas drawled. The mage lips pursed as her brows furrowed. She nearly let slip to call her by her first name. Her sister would most likely grow curious if she ever did so.

“Yes. I’d like to join you as you approach Drathir.”

Sylvanas frowned as she shook her head.

“No, you have your part in the front line alongside Vereesa.” Sylvanas answered firmly.

Sylvanas continued before the mage could interrupt her, “We will lure the forces within Deatholme out, but we also need a mean to decimate their forces immediately as well to route the Scourge and assault Deatholme as soon as possible after Drathir has fallen.” 

Vereesa plucked the piece that symbolized the Scourge of the field as Sylvanas spoke.

“Vereesa will give you the command of the Forsaken mages later on. You’ll coordinate with them regarding how you’ll destroy them. All I ask is that you do it within a safe range and swiftly. The Forsaken numbers are low, especially those who were adept at arcane spells.” Sylvanas added as she folded her arms. 

The frown from the mage never left her face as she explained the details afterwards.

As Sylvanas had finished briefing the rest, she excused herself from the tent to speak with her rangers. The lingering gaze from the mage started to give her doubt over her mission. Sylvanas was confident that she, alongside Clea, Kalira, and Areiel would do the job well. Dar’Khan was nothing compared to Kel’Thuzad, and she was sure of it herself. What could possibly fail their attempt to assassinate that traitor once and for all?

Either she didn’t recognize it or that she didn’t hear it, someone followed her from behind and gripped her wrist. The first thing she noticed was that it was warm, and it was brimming with similar arcane that she had the chance to feel closely from two days ago as she sat beneath the moonless sky. As her head turned around, Jaina still frowned as she gripped her wrist tightly, not intending to let take even another step. For a mage, she was curiously strong with her hand.

“Vereesa had said it herself, he’s a crafty opponent. What if he prepared a trap for you when you sneak into that accursed tower of his? You know nothing much about the magic he wields. Sylvanas, please let me aid you in this assault.”

The pleading look the mage gave her almost made her doubted herself. It was true that she knew next to nothing about what kind of power Drathir had now. He was an accomplished magister in life, and being raised unto undeath would only bolster his power.

“I’m more than adept at killing a desiccated mage thirsting for power, Jaina. I’ve seen his incompetence both when we were alive and when we served under that  _ butcher _ .” Sylvanas gritted her teeth as she spoke lowly, nearing a growl, “Now unhand me, I need to speak with the others right now.”

Reluctantly, Jaina gave in as she let Sylvanas’ arm go. The scowl on her face this time didn’t manage to stop Sylvanas at all as she strode away from the mage.

“And if he does?” Jaina spoke loud enough that Sylvanas heard.

Sylvanas halted in her steps, giving a quick glance at her before hastening again once more, “You’ll know what to do when he does.”

-o-

_ That’s our sign, we move as one. _

As the forces within Deatholme marched, Sylvanas and her rangers melded as one within the shadows. Quickly and stealthily, they moved with Sylvanas watching the front, Kalira watching their back and Areiel with Clea watching their sides. Their bows were always at the ready, yet they hadn’t fired yet. 

Every now and then, they stayed away from any of the Scourge forces that they passed with only one focus on their mission. Her hands twitched every time they were passed by Scourge’s patrols. She had seen it as well towards her rangers but they held onto her commands. 

_ Avoid any confrontation, kill only if we are detected.  _

The notion was tempting.  _ Far  _ too tempting to slay any of these mindless undead and ridding them of future trouble. However, it would be risky for them to know if any of the patrols were missing. There was a greater goal in mind. The forces outside will do it just as easily. They had one job here, and it was to take Drathir’s head and end him permanently. To avenge their homeland. To right the first wrong that should’ve been done in the first place.

As she reached the tower and towards the door which she assumed Drathir was hiding, she heard Drathir lashing out to what Sylvanas assumed his necromancers. Angered at their suggestion to retreat as he was so sure that he would win this and appeased the Lich King.

She couldn’t shake the feeling about Jaina’s worry that something was wrong as she was about to burst in. Something ached numbly on her sternum, right where that butcher impaled her as she was shackled and forced to watch her sisters’ death. The pain only ever resurfaced when that accursed blade of his was near. 

_ No. There is no way he is behind this door. _

Her rangers eyed her curiously as she looked unfocused for a moment there, scowling and seething in quiet as Sylvanas remembered the smug face of that man that had tortured her and her sisters. Forcing her to raise her own rangers unto this damned existence.

She shook her head mentally, and gave them a sign to be ready to break-in.

The door burst as they broke in. As soon as the door was opened, Sylvanas fired an arrow to the first being she had seen within, only for her arrow to be repelled by a mana shield.

“Who dares to-”

More arrows flew from her rangers and this time it was aimed at the necromancers within this dark chamber of his. The necromancers weren’t as fortunate as Drathir was as the arrows found their mark on their throat. Punctured by black arrows.

“You are done for, Drathir. Lay down your shield and I will be merciful enough to give you a swift end.” Sylvanas hissed as she nocked another arrow, imbuing her own power within it. This one will be enough to penetrate that magical shield of his.

“Ah, if it isn’t my king’s precious pet. Taking good care of his kingdom, I presume?” Drathir grinned as his hand wove a spell that Sylvanas didn’t recognize. The dreadful feeling clutched her wound even stronger as she spent more time lingering within this chamber.

“I serve him no longer, Drathir. And give my regards to him, when I send you to oblivion with him later.” Her rangers spread out around the chamber, surrounding him as they had prepared their own arrows to be sent towards his face.

“Then I’m afraid that I must insist on staying in this world, Windrunner. He instructed me wisely after all.”

As she was about to launch her arrow, her hand froze. The pain within her sternum roared once more as she screamed. It throbbed, as if she was impaled once more. But how? He wasn’t here. That accursed blade wasn’t here!

“Dark Lady!” She heard Clea shouting at her. She didn’t realize that she no longer gripped her bow and arrow anymore. She clutched her stomach, as if trying to relieve this immeasurable pain that was slowly gripping its way back to her. Sylvanas forced herself to look around her. Areiel and Kalira were about to launch their arrows but the sudden emergence of ghouls running rampant to the chambers turned their attention away to them. These ghouls must’ve been prepared beforehand.

She flinched once more as the pain surged. This immeasurable pain. This would spell the doom for them. She couldn’t even lift a finger to fight back. Her rangers were occupied with the ghouls as well. Drathir laughed mockingly as he slowly walked towards her. His hand kept channeling a spell she never saw on his right hand as his other hand reached towards something from his robe.

“Oh, how marvelous he truly is! He knew that you would come for me!”

Her eyes widened as she saw what Drathir brought out. A shard, overflowing with similar accursed power that once enslaved her. That must be the source of this renewed pain that coursed through her very being.

Frostmourne.

“You make poor allies, Windrunner.” He said, his tone mocked her. As he used to in front of the Convocation and her back then, “Your allies didn’t even check Naxxramas thoroughly and you only think about Kel’Thuzad’s phylactery. You didn’t know this little experiment he was working on either!”

Clea tried to rush to her side, but the ghouls kept her busy. Areiel and Kalira were now on each other's backs as they cut them one by one. But their numbers were still too much for only two rangers to deal with. As they kept coming after one another, her rangers were pushed back and separated from Sylvanas. Curiously, the ghouls ignored Sylvanas who was on her knees.

“But I must give you some slack. Even I didn't know of this, until our king had told me with his infinite wisdom. He was concerned when his glorious blade chipped during his fight with that demon hunter and apparently tasked Kel’Thuzad to find a way to repair or reforge the blade. ” She can barely hear his voice anymore as the pain numbed her senses one by one. Her vision darkened as the whisper started creeping up to her mind once more.  _ His whispers _ .

No. This can’t be it. She was free! She would not be shackled once more!

“Do you want to know what his order is for me?” He smugly said. Sylvanas gritted her teeth as she forced herself to look up at this treacherous elf who doomed her kingdom.

“To bring his most _precious_ pet back to him, and turn her against her sisters.”

-o-

The battle waged on as Sylvanas previously had predicted. The forces from Deatholme were practically vanquished the moment they stepped into the ambush. The combined forces had lay waste to any of the Scourge forces. The Blood Knight protected both the rangers and the mages as they let loose their arrows and spells. Only after the forces of the Scourge was mostly wiped that they took the initiative to launch an offensive movement now.

But Jaina sensed something was wrong almost immediately as she marched alongside the Forsaken mages, previously hidden from sight. She couldn’t tell why, but there was something unnerving about this battle. Her orders were to launch a volley of firebolts, one after another. The Forsaken mages followed her words properly. Vereesa played a large part in telling the undead mages to trust her judgment. They trust the youngest Queen wouldn’t lead them to their doom by trusting a living mage.

But something was amiss, and it ached.

The first sign of something wrong occurred to her arm, which the bracelet from the Queens rested, ached for reasons she knew not about. She understood the cold from her spells that she had launched again and again to protect the mages as they launched their spells, but not this nefarious feeling that crept towards her wrist.

She didn’t break any of their agreements. So why did it seem like it threatened to hurt her so?

“Are you alright, Lady Proudmoore?” Lady Liadrin walked next to her. The Blood Knight Matriarch lived up to her name as she had seen her charged into the field alongside her knights, but her ferocity was an admirable sight.

“Yes… Well, no. Not really. I felt something was off just now.”

“What do you mean?” The Paladin raised a brow as she looked at Jaina curiously.

“I felt something from a distance… ached. Almost quite painful but I couldn’t understand-“

Sensing a shadowbolt hurled by a necromancer from the Scourge, Jaina immediately formed an arcane barrier to halt the magic. The matriarch herself had placed a shield before her but the barrier absorbed the damage first. In an instant Jaina reacted as she moved in front of the paladin and reached out her hand to form an ice lance. Immediately, she hurled the lance with a swept of her hand and impaled the necromancer right between his eyes.

Jaina huffed as she dispelled her arcane barrier, not realizing the blood elf behind her was looking at her with a scrutinizing look. Liadrin’s gaze focused solely on her hand. Her wrist, where the bracelet from the Queens of Lordaeron was equipped still. It used to be hidden beneath the sleeves but now it was visible to naked eyes.

“That was close-“

Liadrin immediately yanked her hand, looking at the bracelet intently “Where did you get this?”

Jaina was surprised at the sudden change of demeanor from the stoic and focused Paladin, “From the queens?”

Liadrin frowned as she looked her directly in the eye, “Do you even know what this is?”

Jaina raised an eyebrow, curious as to why Liadrin suddenly looked so demanding. The Queens didn’t forbid her from telling this to anyone else, so there should be no harm in telling Liadrin, right?

“They said it’s a way for them to keep me in my place. To keep me from doing something that can potentially harm the treaty that we had agreed upon.”

Liadrin narrowed her eyes, ”They didn’t tell you about it fully, didn’t they?”

“What do you mean?”

“This binding is meant to measure trust between one party to another. This binding works both ways.”

Now it was Jaina’s turn to narrow her eyes as her lips curled into a frown, “Both ways? What do you mean?”

Liadrin sighed as she sheathed her shield onto her back, “If they did something you didn’t consent, they’ll also be hurt. What did you agree to back then?”

Jaina widened her eyes upon the revelation. She recalled the moment she accepted the bracelet, the Queens were very specific with their words whereas Jaina’s word was in general. That she won’t do any harm to the Forsaken, nor she’ll break her own word of agreeing to their terms. In return, the Queens will not harm any member of the Alliance unless in retaliation.

“I… As long as they don't breach their word, I will keep mine and won’t cause any harm to the Forsaken. Their words were a bit more detailed than that, setting up some ground rules on what I can do and cannot.”

Liadrin hummed as her eyes fell onto the one-sided battle where the elves and the Forsaken triumphed against the Scourge. Seemingly satisfied, the Paladin lowered her guard and turned her attention to Jaina fully. Her hand tracing the stones that were attached to the bracelet, 

“Each of these, symbolize each of them. Sylvanas, Vereesa, and…” The Matriarch sighed before she uttered the last name. As if speaking her name in great reluctance, “Alleria.”

Jaina’s eyes darted toward the bracelet. She hadn’t realized yet that one of the stones was no longer like a worthless rock, but a sapphire gem adorning the bracelet. There was a glow within it, but it was dim. Like a fire, slowly perishing away.

Liadrin leaned closer as she inspected the bracelet closely, her eyes narrowing to the sapphire gem, “That one seems to be-“

But before she could even finish her sentence, Vereesa appeared out of thin air next to both of them, startling Jaina the most. She gripped the paladin’s shoulder and pulled her away from Jaina as her crimson eyes darted between both women.

“I’m sorry Liadrin, but I must stop you from telling too much to her.”

Liadrin’s eyes narrowed at the youngest queen. Vereesa’s gaze was almost pleading to the Matriarch before she relented.

“We will discuss this later, Vereesa.” The youngest sister nodded grimly as Liadrin left them and marched alongside her knights.

As Jaina was about to demand explanations from Vereesa, the fallen elf spoke with worry in her voice, “We need to move quickly.”

All questions evaporated as she had seen how Vereesa’s demeanor from her usual apathetic and cold now turned into worry, “What is it?”

“I cannot reach Sylvanas. I fear something happened to her within that tower.”

Fear crept immediately as soon as the word fell from Vereesa’s lips, “She’s in danger right now.”

Vereesa nodded to Jaina’s quick assessment, “We’ll cut a way for you but you must portal quickly and save her. I must stay to coordinate the Forsaken. Without me, they would be scattered.”

Jaina frowned, “I need to see where she is. I just can’t make a portal into a place I have never seen before.”

“Channel your arcane to the sapphire gem on your bracelet. It works on proximity wise. You’ll be able to see what she sees. I’ll task the mages to dispel the barrier that is preventing portals from being made there. Prepare yourself, because Drathir will most likely notice when it happened.”

Then it struck her, Sylvanas’ words before she departed.

_ “You’ll know what to do when he does.” _

Before Jaina can even respond to what Vereesa said, the elf held her hand tightly and looked her in the eye directly. The burning gaze that used to display limitless anger, now turned soft and wishful.

“Save my sister Proudmoore. And I will answer whatever questions you have afterwards.”

Jaina didn’t find it in her to question anymore and to put trust into Vereesa’s words as she nodded, saying a quiet promise that she’ll save Sylvanas with all the might she can muster.

-o-

The pain. 

It rendered herself unmade once more. The whispers started to crept up into her mind as she was forced to kneel before Drathir. He kept talking about how great everything was as he kept channeling the shard to hurt her directly. How the Lich King had foreseen this outcome before and how he’ll be rewarded greatly once he brought her to him to Northrend once he was done subjugating her.

But she couldn’t listen to it. Not anymore. The searing pain took almost everything within her, and the whispers forced her to submit once more. To give in and be relieved of this endless torment.  _ His whisper _ .

Her rangers kept fighting relentlessly, but the ghouls kept coming and pushing them to the corner of the room. Kalira hadn’t lost her nerve yet as she kept slaying them one by one. Areiel switched between using her arrows and her daggers again and again but she could see Clea slowly getting overwhelmed and the young ranger started to frantically swing her sword left and right.

However, a sudden shake towards the whole building was enough to stumble Drathir. The shard fell off his hand and the pain ceased immediately. Her vision was still blurry but she could clearly see a portal was made. She didn’t expect, however, to see Proudmoore appear before it. Her eyes were crackling with surges of arcane energy, overflowing with mana. Like a storm, she appeared before the portal and the energy grew even incandescent as her eyes fell unto Sylvanas who could do nothing but paralyzed by pain, sprawled on the floor.

“Who dares to-“ She could hear Drathir growled before he was practically hurled onto a wall with a force more punishing than a ram breaking down a gate. If he was still a living being, he would surely not survive such impact.

The ghouls within the room immediately turned their head against Jaina. Clea, Kalira, and Areiel were nearly cornered but that small moment of distraction managed to help them immensely to get them back on their feet to counter against the mindless corpses. All three of them worked in tandem to dispatch one ghoul after another.

Sylvanas grunted as she pushed herself up with her arms. She could hear panicked steps as Jaina ran close towards her. Even as the pain slowly ebbed away, she was still too hurt to move. She looked up to find Jaina already by her side. However, Sylvanas focused on something else, just behind Jaina. The object of her torment was on the floor, no longer channeled to torture her.

“Sylvanas, are you-“

“Destroy it… that shard.” Sylvanas spoke in an almost whisper. Even speaking was just too much for her right now as she pointed to Frostmourne's shard.

Without wasting any other moment, Jaina nodded and walked to it. But before she could take it, Jaina noticed that Drathir was already back on his feet and unleashed a barrage of shadowbolts at Jaina. But Jaina was ready for it. She had come prepared as she entered that portal and made an arcane barrier that didn’t even flinch as those foul magic nearly hit her.

Drathir snarled as he grew desperate, flinging his spells one after another which dispersed almost immediately as soon as all of it hit Jaina’s barrier. Jaina focused a spell on her staff as a dozen ice spikes appeared from above her. With a single swing of her staff, pointing at Drathir, all of them launched and pierced the accursed mage on everywhere but his head, pinning him to the wall of the room.

He screamed in pain. His hands were pierced and no longer he could cast his spells. As he slowly registered what was happening to him, his eyes widened as he saw Jaina attempting to pick up the shard.

“You? I know you! My king spoke highly of you!”

That stopped Jaina for a moment. Sylvanas immediately felt dread curling up inside her as she can only lay there and watch.

“Jaina Proudmoore! Yes, my king told me of you! Join us! He would be more than happy to share his kingdom with you! One who stood above all! Rule as his Queen!”

Jaina’s eyes narrowed as the frown never left her face as Drathir continued on. Her eyes had left the shard and focused towards Drathir this time. Was she really reconsidering it? To side with the Scourge? To be with her former beloved once more? 

_ Was all she said that night was just a lie then? _

“Pick that shard, and you’ll see how much power you can hold! An unimaginable wealth of power! You will be-”

But before he could speak any further Jaina snapped her fingers, an ice lance, larger than the previous one she had conjured formed above her. With a single flick of her wrist, the ice lance launched towards Drathir, piercing his mouth. Silencing him permanently.

“I had heard enough of you.”

Her eyes crackled with power no more as she moved towards the shard once more. Her gaze switched between the shard and Sylvanas who were still reeling from the pain, but no less amazed at the sheer amount of power the mage had unleashed in short succession.

She had heard of her feats. Valeera made sure that the rumors were not exaggerated. Sylvanas herself acknowledged that she was a powerful mage in her own right. But to this extent? She could only say that Arthas was a fool for letting this woman leave him. If she were within his service, Azeroth would be lost now.

“-vanas? Are you sure you’re alright?” She didn’t realize that Jaina had already knelt next to her. Sylvanas again mustered her strength, enough for her to at least sit right now.

“...Have you got rid of it?” Sylvanas asked as her eyes glanced towards where the shard was. It was no longer there.

“I can’t destroy it.” Jaina shook her head but before Sylvanas continued her question, she quickly added.

“Not alone but I sealed the shard and whisked it away to my pocket dimension for now. Are you still hurting?”

_ No, thanks to you. _

She almost said it, but she had regained herself slowly but surely. The pain was no more and she will recover soon. She would need something to feed as soon as she returned to Lordaeron.

Her gaze snapped to Jaina’s hand for a moment. Such power hiding from a soft looking hand, how curious.

“Did you touch it?”

Jaina shook her head. Her eyes looked so worried, “No. I didn’t touch it directly and I’ll make sure no one will.”

Sylvanas grunted as she tried to stand up. She nearly fell again before Jaina was there to support her. That relieved look on her face held no fierceness that she had seen previously.

“You fool.”

Sylvanas chuckled, “Not many people dare to call me a fool.”

“Yes, well I’m an exception.”

“You really are.”

As she stood once more, the pain slowly faded away. It was still there as it always were, but no longer it threatened to tear her apart anymore. As she looked around the room, the dark rangers made their way to her from the pile of corpses they had slain previously.

“Dark Lady!”

Her rangers were hurt. She could see scratch marks from Clea. Kalira’s hand was bleeding. Areiel suffered several bruises on her arms.

_ This is my fault, again. _

Her rangers were hurt because she was overconfident about this. Her mistakes caused others to be hurt. She frowned at the sight of her rangers being hurt like this. She promised to herself, that she will talk to them soon. When everything was over. For now, they needed their Queen, not their General.

“Gather Drathir’s head. Search anything that might be useful to us within this room. Do it quickly, we have no time to spare.”

The worried look of her rangers were immediately dispersed as they bowed at the command. All three of them however, remained for a second, fixing a soft gaze at Jaina for a moment before turning around and following the others.

She can look at the confused look from Jaina within that moment. She chuckled, getting the mage attention.

“Seems like you finally gathered the attention of my rangers.” Sylvanas said as she leaned on the wall, sitting down as she watched her rangers obeying her orders. Jaina dispelled her ice lance that ended Drathir as Areiel cut his head off with a clean slash. Clea murmured something to Kalira as both of them went over his desks, but Sylvanas couldn’t hear her right now. Her senses were still muted but least she’s safe now.

“They truly are loyal to you.” Jaina murmured as she sat next to her.

“A blessing, in this time of curse.”

The sound of battle slowly dying from outside of the tower. The battlecries quieted down as the sound of spells and weapon clashing got quieter throughout the minutes they had spent in this room. Sylvanas turned her eyes at Jaina, who seemed to be smiling smugly as her gaze turned to her. Like a brat, who was proven correct when they were told they were wrong before.

Sylvanas sighed, “You can say it.”

“Say what?” Jaina said playfully.

Not giving her anymore satisfaction, Sylvanas chose to close her eyes and rested for a while before they returned. She grinned as she heard Jaina tried to contain a giggle. She could hear the mage moving closer as she whispered quiet enough so her rangers won’t hear it.

“Hey.”

Sylvanas only hummed as she smirked, knowing what was coming for her soon.

“I told you so.”


	14. Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaina's promise was tested, and Sylvanas revealed the secret behind the bracelet.

It has been a week since the assault of Deatholme has occurred. After taking a much needed rest and finishing the paperworks and reports about Deatholme and Zul’Aman, Jaina immediately departed from Undercity to Dalaran with the shard of Frostmourne tucked under a sealed pouch that she had made. 

Early on, she had much disagreement with Sylvanas as she insisted on traveling alone to Dalaran. If Rhonin saw her being accompanied by undead elves, there would be many questions about Vereesa whereabout. Sylvanas begrudgingly agreed to let her do so.

Since she cannot destroy the shard, and doubted that anyone could, she was hoping to seal the cursed piece of the sword somewhere within the Violet Hold. Sylvanas abhorred its presence, as well as her sisters.

Vereesa immediately growled when she showed the shard, saying that its mere presence made the scar that ran across her eyes felt renewed, just like Sylvanas had said when Jaina asked the details of what happened there before Jaina arrived. Alleria herself remained silent but constantly glaring at the shard as if its very existence was a vile thing that shouldn’t exist within Azeroth. Not that she was wrong.

As much as the sisters wished to learn more about the cursed sword and its strength, they preferred that the shard was kept elsewhere. Anywhere as long as it was far away from them and the Forsaken.

As Jaina arrived at Krasus Landing, she looked around her. Dalaran had seen better days, but with the reconstruction ongoing steadily, it was getting better. She had passed several guards and arrived at the vault. There was no need to announce her arrival. She preferred it this way. As well as to avoid meeting her friend. Remembering his schedule, he should be teaching new mages right now.

She immediately departed from the vault as soon as she properly sealed it within and moved into the outskirts of the city, fully intent to make haste to return to Undercity as soon as possible. As she hurried her steps, she didn’t notice there was someone at the corner and bumped into another.

“Sorry, I don’t see where I-“ Jaina spoke as she pushed herself up.

“Jaina?”

Rhonin gave her a curious look as she widened her eyes a bit in surprise.

“Rhonin? What are you doing here?” Jaina asked as she tried to recompose herself.

“I’m on a break right now. The class is a bit too excited about learning new spells and they overexert themselves.” Rhonin, shedding her a curious look, he lent her a hand and pulled her up. “What’s the hurry?”

“I’m… only here for a moment, I need to go back soon.” Jaina dusted her robes for a moment, averting her eyes from looking to Rhonin, “I’m sorry, we’ll catch up la-“

Before she went a step further, Rhonin held her shoulder.

“Jaina, wait.”

Jaina stood frozen. She could tell from his tone that Rhonin was nothing less but serious.

“Is it true? That the undead of Lordaeron is led by Sylvanas? Vereesa’s sister?”

Jaina closed her eyes as her hand curled into a fist. She knew this question would come out sooner or later, but still she could never prepare herself for it. 

“…Yes, and I’m working there as the bridge between them and the Alliance.”

“Is… Vereesa among them?”

There was almost a wishful tone beneath the shaky question he asked. Something that he seemed utterly, and desperately clung onto.

Jaina clenched her teeth, remembering the promise she had made with the youngest sister back on the nameless ranger’s grave. She had promised to not tell Rhonin of what happened to her. Of what she had become now.

Jaina shook her head, as she looked down to her own boots, unable to turn around and looked at Rhonin directly. She couldn’t even utter a word. She was not one to lie. She wasn’t used to doing so.

“…I see.”

He sounded so defeated. That broke Jaina even more. How she wanted to tell him the truth. How she wanted to tell him that Vereesa still loved him even after everything. How she wanted to tell him that Vereesa was scared to see his reaction if he knew what happened with her.

But she couldn’t. She had sworn to keep her silence with Vereesa, and risking her wrath wasn’t something Jaina wanted either.

Jaina stepped closer to Rhonin, speaking softly, “She would only want the best for you, Rhonin.”

Rhonin lifted his gaze and stared Jaina, frowning at her words, “And how would you know? You never met her before.”

Jaina blinked and took a step back. To say it was a surprise was an understatement. She had never heard Rhonin snapped at her like this. He was always a warm person, with an even warmer personality that always brightened another person’s life. To see him like this, it was saddening for her.

As if realizing her thoughts, Rhonin looked away, shame coloring his face, “I’m sorry, that was out of line from me.”

The urge to tell the truth got even stronger now with how crestfallen Rhonin looked. But the bracelet on her wrist prickled slightly, as if warning her to keep her mouth shut. To delay the inevitable even longer than it supposed to be.

“No, that’s… alright. What you said is true.”

Rhonin sighed softly before looking at her with the mournful look he had ever since he learned of Vereesa’s death, “I’ll let you return to your work. Farewell Jaina…”

Jaina kept looking at where Rhonin was as he blinked away from her. She held her head low as she moved towards the portal. She didn’t realize the shadow that kept looming beside her finally made its move and slipped away from Jaina, cracking open a hearthstone and left the vicinity immediately.

-o-

“You looked… upset.”

That was the only thing she could say when she saw Jaina enter the Royal Quarter, followed by Valeera. The mage had departed with a contemplating look, as if trying to memorize something, only to return with a saddened look on her face. She argued with Sylvanas before she departed, that she wanted to leave to Dalaran alone. One argument after another, even to the point that they were pretty close to a shouting contest, Jaina finally pulled her card and said that she wanted to avoid meeting Rhonin as much as possible. That was her main reason for departing to Dalaran alone. Without any escort, she could slip in and get out quickly.

However, Sylvanas cannot allow that. A deal was a deal. As she begrudgingly accepted Jaina’s wish, she still tasked Valeera to keep an eye on Jaina and to be more stealthy than usual, and when Jaina arrived, to act like nothing happened and welcome her by the portal. 

It seemed like the mage didn’t realize that Valeera stuck close, ghosting her every step as she departed to Dalaran.

Valeera gave her a slight shake of her head. The absence of the mischief that Little Shadow always had, as her ears drooped more than the usual, indicated that something didn’t go well. Valeera bowed slightly after Sylvanas gestured to her to dismiss herself.

“Yes, well… It’s not every day that I have to lie to my closest friend.”

That gave her a pause. 

_ So in the end, she still met Rhonin. _

But considering how upset the mage looked right now, she was sure that she met him out of accident, or that she was caught when storing that cursed thing into Dalaran’s vault. Sylvanas was not sure what to say next. To console her? To tell her to not mind it? Or what else?

She didn’t know what to say.

“I don’t understand why she was doing this. Why would you delay the inevitable? They are bound to meet, sooner or later. You know this as much as I am, Sylvanas.”

Fortunately, the subject of her turmoil was away right now. Vereesa was moving towards the Bulwark alongside the future champions that she had personally supervised. There was much to be done even with Deatholme secured. While initially there was a heated argument about what to do with the stronghold with Lor’Themar, Sylvanas managed to convince him not to destroy the place for now. The Forsaken can use the stronghold to better support the elves against the Scourge coming from other cities.

Alleria had initially opted for the destruction of the stronghold, but relented at Sylvanas’ idea to use it instead. Her eldest sister has been restless for a while now ever since she had heard that Sylvanas was nearly enslaved once more. She didn’t show it but Alleria had begun to trust Jaina more after her rescue. The skepticism was always there, but she appreciated what Jaina had done, nonetheless.

She had placed Areiel there for now. The eldest ranger had much experience in the field and in commanding. There was a reason why she was not assigned to any of her sisters. She was too useful to be just stationed as a guard. She was befitting a commander on the field. And, there weren't many that she could trust just yet to hold such a place down, not even her own Forsaken. 

Her rangers.

Her sisters.

Jaina.

The mage stood in front of her, perplexed and distressed. She rarely saw the mage like this. She always seems to know what to do. What she would do when confronted with problems. Always one step ahead of everyone’s line of thinking. Smart, a bit naive perhaps.

Sylvanas stood from her throne, gesturing to Lenara and Loralen that the Royal Quarter will be unavailable for a while. The mage lifted her eyebrow, curious, as Sylvanas descended and walked to her room.

“Follow me.”

Her room was similar to her own within the Spire. A reminder of how she used to be. She couldn’t let that part of her go. A large bed, one that she rarely used except yesterday when she was recovering after draining the life of the deer her rangers hunted. A small armory set on the side to place her weapons and her armors. A desk, filled with papers and parchments from her _allies_ and her people right next to her armory set. 

For now however, the one she walked towards was the shelf behind her desk. Several bottles of drinks were set on the display. Valeera managed to fill it despite her telling the rogue to just focus on her tasks in Theramore. Little Shadow always seemed to know she was still fond of her indulgences.

“Anything to your fancy?”

If there’s anything she was sure about Jaina, it was that her mood improved much easily when they talked with drinks involved. Perhaps, the Kul Tiran within her was always there despite how long the time she had spent apart from her birthplace.

Jaina raised her eyebrow and chuckled slightly as she saw the shelf.

“A whisky would be nice.” She said as she leaned her back on the desk.

Sylvanas pulled one of the drawers on her desk as she set the bottle and prepared two glasses. Her eyes glanced at the mage, looking too weary for someone of her age as she sighed deeply.

“I met him before…  _ all of this _ happened when he expressed his wish to marry Vereesa.” Sylvanas murmured as she poured the bottle.

“Brave man. Not many could stand the glare from both me and Alleria. Brave, and most importantly, a good person.” She sets the bottle aside then passes the glasses to Jaina. She looked at it for a moment before she gulped it down immediately. Sylvanas simply smirked before pouring her another one.

“And as the older sisters, we let him off with a warning. If he ever makes Vereesa cry, there will be nothing that can stop us from hunting him. He didn’t even flinch.”

Admirable trait, one she expected her sister will find in her partner.

“He will never do that.” Jaina answered almost immediately, confident with her words.

Sylvanas hummed slightly, almost impressed with how much the mage trusted Vereesa’s fiancee.

“But what about now?”

At that, Jaina frowned as if offended by the question, “I believe that he-”

“What you believe, and what Vereesa believes is different.” Sylvanas cut her off as she walked towards the armory set, taking off the pauldron and set it there.

“The name of the Forsaken stands for its meaning. We were truly forsaken by the people we thought we could count on. The people we thought would be there for us. The people we thought would’ve loved us still, regardless of how we become. The people we thought would honor their vows of everlasting love and what not.” Sylvanas continued as she took off the gauntlets next.

_ Though, the latter one didn’t really apply to Liadrin and Alleria… _

She knew more than ever that Liadrin still loved Alleria deeply and it was Alleria who chose to end their relationship. Even when they prepared to assault Deatholme, Liadrin still worried about her when she was absent at the assault, not knowing that Alleria refused to be there because of Liadrin’s presence.

“You can believe all you want about what he’ll do, but it won’t change Vereesa’s mind with just words alone.”

“Then what do you think she will need?”

Sylvanas turned to look at her in the eye before uttering a single word, “Time.”

Jaina looked at her questioningly, clearly wanting her to elaborate more. Though she thought that this was something that Vereesa should answer herself, she knew her sister wouldn’t be able to say it directly. Not when her thoughts were still riddled with many things.

“Arthas took away a chunk of her memories. Of things that made her a ranger she used to be. A resolved warrior with no hesitation when it comes to her enemies. A woman full of confidence with no indecision in the moment of battle.”

_ Turning her into a servant _ , she would’ve said blatantly but she would never speak of that anymore. Not of her sister no less, who cried at her ghostly embrace when she found her stumbling over the meeting hall on that day.

“Alleria managed to recover her before she was truly broken and beaten. Before she forgot who she used to be, but still the damage was done. She was so afraid to hold her bow again after she regained her sight. Alleria managed to aid her and return her to the warrior she was, but not the person she once was.”

_ Caring, and full of kindness. Like her father once was. _

Vereesa and Lirath inherited most of who her father was whereas Sylvanas and Alleria inherited more of their mother. While she was a warrior at heart, she was a caring person and would’ve been a loving mother if she and Rhonin had wed before all this nightmare began.

“I hope you respect her wish, despite your opinion on this.” Sylvanas said as she took a gulp of the drink. As she suspected, it still tasted of nothing. She nearly growled in anger as she remembered just how many Arthas had taken away from her, down to things like this that would’ve eased her mind in life. The only thing she could taste was blood from the living beings. The glass nearly cracked before her grip as she sighed and pushed down the bitterness. This wasn’t the right time to brood.

She knew a reluctant look from Jaina’s frown as she looked nowhere but the drink she had poured for her. The mage was clearly in a disagreement regarding this but didn’t say otherwise. Her sister did say that she made a promise with the mage, most likely about her and Rhonin. 

_ Which means... _

“But enough of that, you are not here to discuss Vereesa, aren’t you?” Sylvanas said as she stared at the bracelet the mage wore.

The mage looked up from her glass and directly to Sylvanas, following her gaze to the object of mystery that had settled there ever since their agreement back then, “This bracelet, what is it actually?”

Sylvanas sighed. She was told about Vereesa that Jaina had known a bit more about the bracelet from Liadrin. She owed her that much of the explanation herself and told her sister to leave the matter to her.

“By itself? It was nothing more than an accessory. We had it enchanted with one of the ancient enchantments, made to measure our bond, one to another, and binds us. Just as that bracelet tethers you to us, we each have something that does so in return, as well as binding us to your agreement.”

“And what is yours?”

Sylvanas pulled the necklace that was always hidden beneath her cloth, underneath all the armor she wore, revealing a sapphire necklace. When Alleria attempted to leave beyond the Dark Portal, she had broken their family heirloom to three pieces as a farewell gift to her sisters. Only then that she hesitated upon the day of her departure and decided to stay behind, keeping her promise to Liadrin, that she’ll return at all cost. Vereesa had chastised her a lot when Alleria returned. Sylvanas can only sigh in relief that her sister would decide to stay in the end.

Each of them wore it still, and all of it tethered to the very bracelet Jaina wore right now.

Her necklace dimmed a little compared to the last time she had checked it, right when she had retreated to her quarter after that night she had spent with Jaina. The glow would surely dim even further once she told her everything about the bracelet and why she didn’t tell her clearly about the binding.

“Is this what Lady Liadrin meant when she said you haven’t told me about everything?” Jaina asked as she started to frown, perhaps finally beginning to piece the puzzle.

Sylvanas clenched her jaw. She was used to deceit and underhanded tactics as long as it served the purpose, but she wasn’t used to being confronted by someone she had decided she could trust.

“If you knew everything about this binding, you could use it to bind us. That was not something we could afford at that time.” Sylvanas stated as she stared back at Jaina.

Jaina pursed her lips. There remained a questioning look still on her face as she inspected the bracelet closely, “How is this bond even allowed to be made when one party doesn’t know the full implication of it?”

A scholar question, suitable as a mage of her peers.

“The rituals were previously made in agreement only between the elves. There were hardly any secrets back in those ancient days so everyone knew about it. With time, the practice slowly went away and receded since the elves always served at the best interest for Quel’Thalas. Alleria remembered this practice and with her newfound power, able to enchant the bracelet with the bindings. The only thing remaining for it to work is the agreement between both parties, both who wore the accessory, and sealed with a touch such as a handshake for example.”

Jaina scowled, not willing to look at her as she clenched her jaw and held the glass tightly.

“So you purposely lied to me about its full implication, knowing that I  _ could _ turn it against you because you need either the Alliance or the Horde at that time?”

The silence that follows were deafening. The tension in the room was so thick it was almost suffocating. 

Sylvanas closed her eyes as she nodded, knowing the ire that came from Jaina was clear this time. Why did the thought of upsetting Jaina vexed her so? She didn’t bother to think twice about this when Alleria suggested the idea before the meeting on that day on Silverpine Forest. Why now of all time?

To her surprise, Jaina released a long sigh rather than bursting in anger like she expected her to. Sylvanas slowly opened her eyes and looked upon a mage who looked too tired about everything.

“You’re upset, I take it.” She almost wanted to bite her own tongue for speaking like that. There was no need to add more fuel to the fire. Asking the obvious was one way of doing that.

“Of course I am upset,” Jaina glared at her for a moment but closed her eyes slowly.

Both spoke up at the same time,

“If you want to leave for a while, I-”

“But I understand why you did so.”

Sylvanas blinked several times, trying to register the mage’s words as Jaina stared at her crimson eyes directly. 

_ She understood? _

“Did you now?” Sylvanas drawled as she kept herself skeptical.

“You are pitted on a choice from your newfound freedom, either to ally with the enemies you made in life, or the people who turned on you because of undeath. Risking a chance where you could get abandoned again is not an option. That choice isn’t fair, and I understand if you are looking for the third option. To rule on your terms with a guarantee that your allies won’t cast you aside anymore. Did I miss anything?”

Sylvanas kept her eyes towards Jaina as she narrowed her brows. She was uncomfortable with this. The mage saw through her and her sisters’ turmoil easily. She can only sigh as she was clearly caught by that unwavering look that Jaina gave in return.

“I underestimated you, Jaina.” Sylvanas murmured as she sat at the edge of her bed, her gaze fell upon the mage who smirked at her words, “Beneath all that softness you always held, you are held more insight than anyone I’ve ever met, both in life and undeath.”

Jaina shrugged, shedding a smile that held bitterness.

“Peace is worth fighting for. No matter the sacrifice.” Jaina said as her eyes fell to her drink once more.

The room fell into another silence. The unspoken word hung tensely between them as Sylvanas knew more than what she meant by those words. For the sake of the newly forged peace with the Horde, she had to go against her father. The life of her father was the cost of that very peace.

Sylvanas was different however. No matter what, she held resentment against the Horde. Even if they would end up working together should Jaina didn’t arrive back then, she would use them to advance her own agenda rather than serving them. The Horde would be but a means to further her campaign against the Scourge, just as the Alliance is now.

The question hovers heavily before her.

_ Will Jaina be another means for us against the Scourge? Or... _

“Can new rules be made afterwards? Or revised?”

Jaina’s question snapped her out of her pondering.

Sylvanas nodded, “Just as you’ve promised Vereesa, you can make another with me, Alleria, or the three of us.”

“Then I want something,” Jaina stood, walking close to Sylvanas. It was clear that she was still upset and Sylvanas narrowed her eyes, thinking of what she should say next.

Curiosity brewed within her, as she wondered what the mage wanted with her. She couldn’t deny that the mage had nothing but had been helpful with her and her sisters, alongside the Forsaken. What could possibly go wrong with granting her something?

“Name it.”

Jaina pulled a breath as she stared at her directly.

“I want you to be honest with me, Sylvanas. From now on about everything.” She said without hesitation as she held out her hand. The sapphire gem dangling from her bracelet glistened slightly as the sapphire necklace did the same.

Sylvanas looked at the warm and soft looking hand intently. If she reached out to it, she would seal the deal and have to comply with the rule Jaina had placed. 

_ To be truthful. _

Should she oblige the mage’s wish? Jaina had proven to be trustworthy thus far. Her efforts at aiding the Forsaken cannot be simply dismissed as well. Furthermore, she had  _ saved _ her from Drathir’s clutches. 

_ If she didn’t… _

Sylvanas shook her head mentally. She didn’t even want to imagine what she’ll be going through if Jaina wasn’t there to aid her.

As seconds passed, Sylvanas raised her hand and was about to reach out to it. Something however held her back.

_ What of the Forsaken? _

_ Of Alleria? _

_ Of Vereesa? _

Before they could even touch each other, Sylvanas pulled back her hand as her hesitation finally won over. She couldn’t do this. Not right now.

“You still couldn’t trust me yet?” Jaina took a step back as she set a tired look towards Sylvanas, clearly disappointed with her decision.

“Don’t mistake my hesitation with it.” Sylvanas said as she shook her head slightly and looked back at Jaina.

“You are... perhaps the very few living beings that I could trust, but I cannot trust you yet with the secrets the Forsaken harbored. Not yet. Not until my sisters could trust you the same as I have.” Sylvanas spoke softly.

“Will you at least tell me truthfully if it will harm the Alliance?”

“No, unless the Alliance wishes to stand in our way when we march towards the Scourge. Of that, I can promise you.”

Before Jaina could speak anymore, there was a hurried knock on the door. Sylvanas frowned as she could only consider it being urgent. As she opened the doors, revealing Velonara with a grim look on her face.

“Dark Lady, I bring news from Silvermoon.”

“What is it?” Jaina asked from behind her. Velonara gave Sylvanas a glance to which she answered with a single nod, letting the dark ranger to speak freely.

“Prince Kael’Thas has betrayed the Sin’Dorei.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suppose the end of the month would be my update schedules for now. Work has been increasing as of lately, but I can promise at the very least there will be a chapter each month. Two if work slows down for a bit.


End file.
